LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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SPIRITUAL LIFE: 



ITS NATURE, URGENCY, AND CROWNING 
EXCELLENCE. 



REV. j'Th/potts, A.m., 

Author of " Pastor and People," " The Golden Dawn," etc. 




SEP 2- 'm. 



^Vf/ti^„*. 



NEW YORK: '^^" 
PHILLIPS & HUNT. 

CINCINNATI: 

CRANSTON i& ST OWE. 

1884. 



f'7 




\ 






Copyright 1884, by 
PHILLIPS & HUNT, 

New York. 




PREFACE, 



"jVTOT as containing any thing especially new or 
J- 1 sensational on the subject of the higher life 
are the following pages given to the public. 
Presenting little of the doctrinal or speculative, 
and nothing of the controversial or dogmatic, 
they seek only to call attention to the existing 
necessity for a purer life and a better work in 
the Churches. The author recently received 
from a pastor a private letter in which was 
written : " Unless one is in the direct work of 
building up souls in Christ, he can hardly be 
aware of the awful darkness which has settled 
upon the minds of nine tenths of all Christian 
j)eople, and the terrible struggle they are making 
to keep on the ^ legal' side of Christian ex- 
perience." 

Perhaps a practical appeal for greater spirit- 
uality — an appeal apart from denominational 



4 Peeface. 

peculiarities — may meet with more or less accept- 
ance among God's children of every name. Cer- 
tain it is that something is required to stir up the 
pure minds of ministers and laymen every-where 
by way of remembrance, both of duty and priv- 
ilege, in the work of our high calling. That this 
unpretentious little book will wholly meet the 
demand is too much to expect ; that it may serve 
some good purpose in this direction is the earnest 
hope of The Author. 

Office op 

Michigan Christian Advocate, 

Detroit. 



•i 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

I. The Life , 1 

II. The Work 18 

III. In Weakness 49 

lY. Full Surrender 60 

y. The Revival 68 

yi. The Christian Spirit 80 

yil. Unfaltering Trust 95 

yill. Spiritual Yision 108 

IX. Holiness 123 

X. In Power — The Ministry 175 

XI. Spiritual Maxims 196 



Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly 
places in Christ : according as he hath chosen us in him before 
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and with- 
out blame before him in love. — Eph. i, 8, 4. 

Create in me a clean heart, God ; and renew a right spirit 
within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take 
not thy Holy Spirit from me. Kestore unto me the joy of thy 
salvation ; and uphold me with thy free Spirit. Then will I 
teach transgressors thy ways ; and sinners shall be converted 
unto thee. — Psa. li, 10-13. 

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and con- 
tinueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of 
the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. — J as. i, 25. 

Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that 
are ready to die : for I have not found thy works perfect be- 
fore God. — Rev. iii, 2. 

The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they 
are life. — John vi, 63. 

Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts. — 1 Cor. 
kiv, 1. 



SPIRITUAL LIFE. 



'"■4 ♦ » ■ 



I. 

THE LIFE. 

SPIRITUAL life ! what is it ? The expression 
is very familiar ; we have all heard it from 
childhood up; is the experience equally common? 
Is it something gained in the order of natural 
growth, of intellectual development, of social 
progress, or moral improvement ? Is it, in some 
degree, a heritage of every man's earthly exist- 
ence, cropping out somewhere and at some time 
as a necessary part of his being? Or is it a dis- 
tinct element, introduced by other than natural 
processes, and requiring in every individual that 
has it free and intelligent acceptance of it at the 
hands of the great Giver of all life ? Verily, the lat- 
ter view is correct. Spiritual life is life begotten 
in the trusting heart by the Spirit of God. The 
Spirit proceeds from Christ, who is our life. He 
produces spiritual life in the believer because he 



8 The Life. 

is the very breath of the living and glorified 
Christ. He takes of that which belongs to Jesus 
(John xvi, 15) and communicates it to us. " Our 
Lord's holy life on the earth," says Prof. Godet, 
"is the type which the Holy Spirit is commis- 
sioned to reproduce in us, the treasury from 
which he draws the renewing of our life. Life, 
in Scripture, denotes a fully satisfied existence, 
in which all the faculties find their full exercise 
and their true occupation. Man's spirit, become 
the abode and organ of the Divine Spirit, realizes 
this life with a growing perfection to eternal 
life." In many passages of Scripture Christ is 
referred to as dwelling in the believer. This can 
be only a spiritual habitation. It is Christ in the 
person of the Spirit that joins himself with the 
spirit and life of man, they twain constituting a 
spiritual life of the highest order known to cre- 
ated existence. Where the Spirit of Christ is 
there he is also himself. Christ in us thus be- 
comes our life of joy and our hope of glory. He 
satisfies us just in proportion as we awake in his 
likeness. He uses us for good in the ratio of our 
separation from evil and consecration to his serv- 
ice. " And if Christ be in you, the body is dead 
because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of 
righteousness." Rom. viii, 10. Spiritual life will 



Spiritual Life a New Creation. 9 

not prevent the death of the body, but it will en- 
ergize the life of the soul, making it potent for 
good, and in the end will quicken the mortal 
part, and result in life eternal. 

Spiritual life, then, is no "spontaneous gen- 
eration" — an element springing into being of 
itself. It is not mere development of latent en- 
ergies or dormant forces ; it is not moral rec- 
titude, nor physical perfection, nor any thing 
that comes within the range of purely human 
capabilities. It is a life of God. It is a new 
creation. It is being born from above, born of 
the Spirit, made a child of God, and adopted into 
his family. 

And this beginning of spiritual life in man has 
its striking analogy in nature. It is a wonderful 
thing, but not more wonderful than the begin- 
ning of natural life. Scientists now concede that 
there is no such thing as life spontaneously gen- 
erated. Life can only come from pre-existing 
life. The attempt, such as Bastian hastily made, 
and supposed successful, to get the living out of 
the dead has proved a disastrous failure. Huxley 
is free to grant that the doctrine of life only 
from life is "' victorious along the whole line at 
the present day." " The present state of knowl- 
edge," he says, "furnishes us with no link be- 



10 The Life. 

tween the living and the not living." * Tyndall 
affirms that "no shred of trustworthy experi- 
mental testimony exists to prove that life in our 
day has ever appeared independently of antece- 
dent life." f Life springs only at the touch of 
the great Lifegiver. This is nature's law, uni- 
versal and unchangeable. 

And so spiritual life is not the result of merely 
good resolves, a reformation of character if it was 
previously bad, a gradually becoming better and 
better until, from wickedness and degeneracy, 
that quality of religious nature known as spirit- 
ual life is attained. "Spiritual life," says that 
masterly scholar. Professor Henry Drummond, " is 
the gift of the Living Spirit. The spiritual man 
is no mere development of the natural man. He 
is a new creation born from above. As well ex- 
pect a hay infusion to become gradually more 
and more living until, in course of the process, it 
reached vitality, as expect a man, by becoming 
better and better, to attain the eternal life." He 
says again, "The door from the natural to the 
spiritual is shut, and no man can open it. This 
world of natural men is staked off from the spir- 
itual world by barriers which have never yet been 

* " Encyclopaedia Britannica," (new ed.,) Art., *' Biology." ■ 
t "Nineteenth Century," 1878, p. 507. 



The New Birth. 11 

crossed from within. No organic change, no modi- 
fication of environment, no mental energy, no moral 
effort, no evolution of character, no progress of 
civilization can endow any single human soul 
with the attribute of spiritual life. The spiritual 
world is guarded from the world next in order 
beneath it by a law of biogenesis, * Except a 
man be born again, , . . born of water and of 
the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' 
The breath of God, blowing where it listeth, 
touches with its mystery of life the dead souls 
of men, bears them across the bridgeless gulf be- 
tween the natural and the spiritual, between the 
spiritually inorganic and the spiritually organic, 
endows them with its own high qualities, and de- 
velops within them these new and secret facul- 
ties, by which those who are born again are said 
to see the kingdom of God."* This is experi- 
ence, real, conscious. Christian experience. It is 
passing " from death unto life." It is the begin- 
ning of a new career, a spiritual existence to 
which the soul was before a stranger. The 
world calls this change conversiouy and such it 
is. It is a turning from one state to another, a 
change, not only of the conduct, but of the heart, 
a renewing of the mind, a passing away of the 
* '* Natural Law in the Spiritual World," p. 71. 



12 The Life. 

old in tliouglit and affection and a coming in of 
the new, an enthronement within of the holy and 
good. " If any man be in Christ, he is a new 
creature : old things are passed away; behold, all 
things are become new." 2 Cor. v, 17. 

In this new life there is growth. While there 
could not be a growth into it, any more than from 
vegetable life into animal life, there is growth in 
it. The life, once begun, like the life of the 
body, expands, matures, rises into more and more 
fullness. The subject of it is earnest, believing, 
prayerful, self-denying, and a student of the 
"Word, and his growth goes on. He is planted 
in Christ. He is rooted and built up in him. 
He abides in the vine, and in the course of events 
is expected to bring forth fruit. In short, as one 
says, "the Christian, like the poet, is born, not 
made; and the fruits of his character are not 
manufactured things, but living things, things 
v/hich have grown from the secret germ, the 
fruits of the living Spirit. They are not the 
products of this climate, but exotics from a sun- 
nier land." The conditions of growth and fruit- 
fulness are within the compass of every renewed 
life. As the branch abides in the vine, so the 
Christian must abide in Christ: he must allow 
grace, which is as free as the air, as clear as the 



Reality of Spiritual Life. 13 

sunshine, and as refreshing as the dew, to play- 
over him, to bathe his spirit, and invigorate his 
soul. 

If he does this he lives on. Christ lives in 
him. Christ is his, and he is Christ's. The life 
of Christ is thus manifest in his mortal flesh. 
The Spirit of Christ fills him, thrills him, and 
renders his existence a foretaste of the bliss of 
heaven. 

Of the certainty of the spiritual life, its deep 
and comforting reality, we are not left without a 
witness. Paul tells us so. In that wonderfully 
beautiful chapter, the eighth of Romans, the 
chapter "beginning with no condemnation, and 
ending with no separation," he declares, " For as 
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are 
the sons of God. For ye have not received the 
spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have re- 
ceived the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry^ 
Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness 
with our spirit, that we are the children of God : 
and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and 
joint heirs with Christ." Here the Spirit is pre- 
sented as a gracious, loving Guide, a present 
and powerful Witness, and " the leading " on 
the one hand, and following on the other, show 
the fact of sonship in all in whom is the Spirit of 



14 The Life. 

God's dear Son. The word " cry " is emphatic, 
expressing the spontaneousness and strength of 
filial recognition. Elsewhere the apostle tells us 
that the exclamation is drawn from our hearts by 
the Spirit itself: "And because ye are sons, God 
hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your 
hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Gal. iv, 6. The 
cry which proceeds from our own hearts under 
the vitalizing energy of the Spirit, as the very 
element of the new life, is responded to by the 
divine voice setting a distinct seal to ours; and 
so, " in the mouth of two witnesses," the thing is 
established. The arms of the believer are 
stretched out to take hold of God, and at the 
same time the arms of God are extended to draw 
to his bosom his child. No sooner does the cry 
of love. My Father! ascend from the seeking 
heart, than there comes back the comforting re- 
sponse, 3Iy son ! This means adoption, sonship, 
home, protection, sustenance, inheritance, and 
heaven. It implies work, worship, prayer, and 
" endurance unto the end. It is the conscious com- 
mencement of a spiritual existence, which may 
unfold in the glories of life eternal. 

Commentators are agreed in this. Calvin ob- 
serves on the above passage, that " if the Holy 
Ghost did not bear testimony of God's parental 



Witness of the Sjnrit, 15 

love, our tongue would remain silent, for we 
could not in prayer call him Father, unless we 
were assured that he really was so." Dr. Whe- 
don understands by the expression, " Spirit itself," 
the immediate person of the Holy Ghost testify- 
ing solely to the fact of our sonship; and by the 
expression, "beareth witness with ours,'^ that he 
testifies concurrently with, so that there are two 
witnesses, the divine and the human, testifying 
to the one fact that we are the children of God. 

Real and true, then, is the work of the Spirit 
in the soul's salvation. While it is so mysterious 
and profound that none can comprehend it who 
have not obtained like precious faith, it neverthe- 
less enters into the consciousness and becomes as 
much a fact of life as any thing besides. It is an 
experience which can be clearly perceived and 
recognized by all who have it. " He that believ- 
eth on the Son of God hath the witness in him- 
self." This witness he carries with him. It is a 
permanent, settled, standing witness which no 
trial or difficulty, other than the sinful, can dis- 
lodge. It is an inward testimony or impression 
on the soul which unites with the believer's own 
faculties and powers of understanding, forming a 
sort of double evidence, which cannot be doubted. 
The soul as intimately and evidently perceives 



16 The Life. 

when it loves, delights, and rejoices in God, as 
when it loves and delights in the companionship 
of a friend. The process, like the coming of the 
light and heat, or the shifting of the wind, is 
mysterious, but the fact itself is plain enough. 
To " every one that is born of the Spirit " God 
hath given an understanding by which he knows 
him that is true. " The blind man of Scripture," 
says Rev. Dr. J. B. Aylesworth, "had the wit- 
ness in himself that he was cured, in the plain, 
simple, undoubted fact that he could see. So he 
that believeth on the Son of God hath the wit- 
ness in himself that he is saved. The same as 
the weeping woman at the Saviour's feet, to 
whom he said, ' Thy faith hath saved thee, go in 
peace.' The same as the cleansed leper had, and 
the woman who had been straightened and loosed 
from an infirmity of eighteen years' standing. The 
same as Paul had when he found himself a new creat- 
ure in Christ Jesus; or as Peter had when he lost 
his moral cowardice and found himself with holy 
boldness facing the mob and defending and pro- 
claiming the faith. The same as Fletcher who, 
after a night spent much in prayer, was greatly 
encouraged next day because his temper was 
broken. The same as John Bunyan, who was 
rebuked for his profanity by a very wicked 



The Spiritual a Coiiscioiis Life, 17 

woman, who told him that he had the name of 
being 'the most profanest man in the town of 
Bedford.' He resolved, by the grace of God, 
never to swear again. And he never did. I also 
have had similar experience. The habits of youth 
which I dreaded and feared were my masters, I 
found easily subdued by the invisible, impercepti- 
ble, but none the less mighty and effectual work- 
ing of the grace of God in answer to prayer, 

* He breaks the power of canceled sin, 
And sets the prisoner free.' 

And he in whom the power of sin and sinful 
habits is broken has the witness in himself that 
God is working in him and saving him just as 
plainly as had the blind man or the cleansed 
leper." 

Such an experience is worth having. It is the 
richest, grandest, and most abiding possible to the 
soul of man. It is the solid ground of that spir- 
itual life which alone is pleasing to God and proof 
against the insinuations of the evil one. 

" His witness within, by faith we receive, 
And, ransomed from sin, in righteousness live ; 
Through Jesus's passion we gladly possess 
A present salvation, a kingdom of peace." 



18 The Work. 



11. 

THE WORK. 

MAN is called to be a worker. He has the 
best of examples. Jesus said, " My Father 
worketh hitherto, and I work." Paul was a 
worker, and he exhorted the Churches that with 
quietness they work. Every true Christian is a 
laborer. All are not to be active in the same 
channel, but none are to be idle. With tongue 
or pen, hands or feet, wealth or influence, every 
believer in Christ is bound to be active. An idle 
Christian is the poorest kind of Christian, if, in- 
deed, he be any Christian at all. How can he 
gain the things which pertain unto life and god- 
liness ? Hear Peter: "Add to your faith vir- 
tue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowl- 
edge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; 
and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, 
brotherly kindness; and to brotherly-kindness, 
charity." 

In a sacred book of the East it is said that 
when a man dies they who survive him ask what 
property he has left behind. The angel who 



Christianity is Doing Mitch, 19 

bends over the dying man asks what good deeds 
he has sent before him. In our better book it is 
pronounced, 

" Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. . . . 
They may rest from their labors; and their v/orks 
do follow them." 

In the aggregate we know that Christianity is 
doing much, more than skeptics acknowledge, 
and more than many people dream. It is easy 
to believe the testimony of the five senses, but 
not so easy to ground our faith upon the reality 
of things spiritual. We can see and hear what 
science and art are doing for mankind, but the 
kingdom of God is like leaven in the meal, un- 
seen and unheard, yet penetrating and powerful 
in its operations. Who can measure the extent 
of the hidden religious influences at work in the 
minds and hearts of the fifty millions of Ameri- 
cans to-day ? The thought of God, of immortali- 
ty, of sin and salvation, of the Bible and of 
Christ ? Who can tell the good accomplished in 
society through the agencies of the Church — her 
missionary enterprises, her evangelizing efforts, 
and public and social means of grace ? Think of 
more than eighty thousand Protestant ministers 
constantly engaged in direct religious work? 
Think of eight or ten millions of members scat- 



20 The Wokk. 

tered through our communities in country, town, 
and city, bearing the Christian name and speak- 
ing the language of the spiritual Canaan. Think 
of over three hundred and sixty colleges, chiefly 
under the management of Christian boards of con- 
trol, and more than one hundred and thirty theo- 
logical seminaries, whose specific work it is to train 
the minds of the rising generation not only to think, 
but to think rightly ; not only to reason, but to 
reason in harmony with the higher laws and life 
which God has implanted in the human breast. 
Think of over three hundred religious newspapers 
and periodicals scattering abroad their weekly and 
monthly issues like the leaves of autumn. Think 
of the various philanthropic and reformatory 
agencies which owe their origin and support to 
the humane spirit of the age, in turn begotten 
and fostered by the living principles and power 
of Christianity. Think especially of the tens of 
thousands of Sunday-schools every-where at work, 
growing more numerous and mighty every week, 
and destined to become the grandest agency 
known to mankind, for the Christian culture and 
training of those who are to occupy positions of 
trust and responsibility when the present genera- 
tion has fallen. 

Dr. Daniel Dorchester, in his "Problem of 



A General Summary, 21 

Religious Progress," makes the following sum- 
mary: 

" 1. That Protestant Christian governments are 
rapidly and surely obtaining political control of 
the world. 

" 2. That Christianity is increasing in the num- 
ber of its communicants much more rapidly than 
the world is growing in population. 

" 3. That the recent breaking down of many 
ancient barriers to Christian progress gives 
promise to a still greater ratio of increase. 

" 4. That Protestantism has not deteriorated 
in the qualities necessary to an aggressive relig- 
ious force. 

" 5. That Romanism is doomed, though its 
death may be slow. 

" 6. That the United States can never become 
a Roman Catholic nation. 

" 7. That the infidelity of to-day is less potent 
and successful than that of the last century. 

"8. That the so-called 'liberal' Churches of 
America utterly fail to keep pace with the 
growth of population. 

"9. That the 'orthodox' Churches of the 
United States have, during this century, in- 
creased in a greater ratio than the population, 
and that this ratio is steadily increasing. In 



22 The Work. 

1800 the evangelical Cliurclies had one communi- 
cant in 14.50 of the population; in 1850, one in 
6.57; in 1870, one in 5.78; in 1880, one in 5. 

" 10. That the faith, morals, and spirituality 
of the present time will not suffer in comparison 
with the past. 

"11. That the higher education of our Ameri- 
can youth is chiefly in the hands of the evangel- 
ical Churches. 

" 12. That the Protestant Christian missions 
have been a conspicuous success." 

Our high type of morality is the result of 
practical religion. Had moralists no standard 
save the lives of those who are worse than they 
are, how soon would their boasted virtues and 
good works dwindle into insignificance and ob- 
livion. The exalted precepts of Christ, inwoven 
in the whole texture of our intellectual natures, 
ringing in the memory from early childhood, and 
finding their true element — their responsive life 
^ — in the promptings of every educated conscience, 
are a power for good which man cannot measure 
by any mechanical rules. Every Church edifice, 
with spire pointing toward the city of God, is a 
helpful reminder that here we xnust labor if there 
we would rest. 

But all these results are only the beginning of 



Present Condition of Manhind. 23 

what is to be done. The agencies noy^ employed 
are but as a drop that precedes the shower when 
compared with those that will be necessary ere 
, God can rain general righteousness upon this 
wicked world. 

Consider for a moment the present awful con- 
dition of mankind. Go into any rural district 
w^here order, quietness, and morality are sup- 
posed to abound. See how God's Sabbaths are 
violated, his name profaned, his commandments 
broken. See how little there is of true philan- 
thropy, righteous zeal, or systematic beneficence, 
even among the professedly good. Those who 
own the broad acres of this American continent 
are doing next to nothing to arrest the spread of 
evil and convert the world. 

In our great cities there is wickedness enough 
to appall the strongest and bravest heart. The 
Bishop of Manchester, on a Sunday afternoon in 
June, v/as walking back from the East End of 
London, and in his sermon preached that evening 
in Westminster Abbey, he told what his eyes 
beheld: 

^' I walked along the Commercial Road, and 
through the thronged thoroughfares of White- 
chapel and Aldgate. I sav^ humanity there in 
many forms, few of them lovely. There was the 



24 The Work. 

street trader driving his profitable trade; there 
were the hundreds roaming to and fro without 
an apparent object, who had no Sunday clothes; 
there was the shameless harlot, and those who 
made that woman shameless; and there was the 
deadly spirit vault, with its bar crowded with 
young and old men and women asking for poison, 
from end to end. My wife was with me, and she 
turned to me and said, ' Well, this is sadder than 
any thing we have seen in Manchester;' and I 
thought. Can science or philosophy ever heal 
these things? Nay, my thought was even sad- 
der than that, for I said to myself. We have let 
this evil grow and gain such dimensions as that. 
Can even Christianity, such as we know it, and 
such as we have allowed it to become — can even 
Christianity heal it ? Could Sodom, could Egypt, 
could the city in which our Lord was crucified 
have ever shown sadder, more desperate scenes 
than these?" 

What the Bishop of Manchester saw in London 
on that bright summer day any minister in our 
American cities may behold for himself. 

So commonplace are the evils of intemperance 
and harlotry that they are taken for granted, 
considered rather necessary, and scarcely wished 
otherwise by many who claim to have the good 



Social Evils. 25 

of humanity at heart. The same sentiment holds 
respecting nearly every species of evil. Apart 
from periodical uprisings against certain forms 
of vice, the wicked are having their day. Like 
those of old, they are committing two evils 
against God : they are forsaking God, the fount- 
ain of living water, and hewing out to them- 
selves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no 
water. The world may be wiser, and popular 
morality more wide-spread, than fifty years ago, 
but the wisdom is not that which the good old 
Bible commends, nor is the morality of that 
higher Christian type which gives proof of purity 
within. There have been social developments 
within the last decade startling in the extreme. 
They have not yet ceased or diminished. Society 
is constantly on the very tiptoe of expectation. 
What next? is the anxious inquiry of every good 
heart. 

Increasing laxity of opinion in respect to the 
sanctity of the marriage relation is an alarm- 
ing fact. The ratio of divorce to marriage in 
some of the States is already one to ten, and 
seems to be increasing. To the one ground of 
divorce which Christ's precepts allow, human leg- 
islators have added a dozen — cruelty, drunken- 
ness, contagious or incurable disease, insanity, and 



26 The Work. 

even incompatil)ility of temper being among the 
number. In one of the United States, according 
to President Theodore D. Woolsey, the judges 
are left absolutely free to grant divorce when 
they think that the happiness of the marriage 
relation requires it. Keep on, and the time is 
not far distant when the marriage service, to be 
consistent, must read, " as long as we agree," in- 
stead of " until death us do part." 

It will not do. Christians must bestir them- 
selves, throwing their voices and influence against 
any laws granting dissolution of the marriage 
bond for reasons not justified by the teachings of 
Christ and of Paul. Society will suffer, and the 
Church be injured more and more, unless this 
tide of loose sentiment is turned. Without some 
religious sense of the nature and ends of marriage 
the sanctity of the marriage relation, in the face 
of license and lust, cannot be sustained. For this 
needed religious feeling the Church and ministry 
are almost solely responsible. Ministers must 
preach it, laymen must talk it. In Christ's stead 
they must plead for the integrity and sacredness 
of the marriage bond and the purity and welfare 
of the home. In no other instance did our blessed 
Lord alter or amend the law of Moses, and his 
direct and clear command in this single case 



The Play-house. 27 

ought to be respected by the Christian world un- 
til the present dispensation closes, and time shall 
be no more. In all cases of Church discipline for 
divorce, and other offenses against marriage, the 
authorities should seek to realize in law and jus- 
tice a true conception of the Saviour's legislation. ^ 
^* If the Christian legislator," says an able au- 
thority, " does not carry out Christ's principles 
in regard to divorce, it will be not because they 
are moral rather than jural, but because the hard- 
ness of men's hearts prevents the introduction of 
a perfect rule." 

Consider the popularity of the play-house. It 
is an age of lightness and amusement. The thea- 
ters in the City of New York alone receive more 
money than all the Churches in America are 
contributing for the support of missions. In all 
other cities theaters have been sustained in a 
way most flattering to the proprietors and actors, 
but uncomplimentary to the influence of ministers 
and Churches. 

None can deny that the patronage of the thea- 
ter is of questionable propriety. There never was 
a time when pure Christianity did not revolt from 
the practical influences of the stage. Ministers 
in all ages have denounced it, moralists have 
reasoned against it, and those who have defended 



28 The Work. 

it have done so on the score of the intellectual 
rather than the moral. 

Even the more virtuous pagans condemned this 
amusement as injurious to morals and the inter- 
ests of nations. Plato, Livy, Xeiiophon, Cicero, 
Solon, Cato, Seneca, Tacitus, the most venerable 
men of antiquity, have denounced it as a source 
of pollution, assuring us that both Greece and 
Rome had their ruin accelerated by a fatal pas- 
sion for these corrupting entertainments. 

Lord Macaulay affirmed, " The theater is the 
seminary of vice." Macready, England's star 
actor, declared, " None of my children, with my 
consent, under any pretense, shall enter the thea- 
ter, nor associate with play actors or actresses." 
An English writer, in the time of Charles I., 
made a catalogue of authorities against the stage, 
which contains almost every name of eminence 
in the heathen and Christian world. 

The American Congress, soon after the Decla- 
ration of Independence, passed a resolution con- 
demning the stage, and classing it with horse- 
racing, gaming, etc. 

M. Dumas, who wrote " Camille," once said, 
*' You do not take your daughter to see my play. 
You are right. Let me say, once for all, you 
must not take your daughter to the theater. It 



The Theater Condemned, 29 

is not merely the work that is immoral, it is the 
place. Whenever we paint men, there must be a 
grossness that cannot be placed before all eyes; 
and whenever the theater is elevated and loyal, 
it can live only by using the color of truth. The 
theater being the picture or satire of the passions 
and social manners, it must be immoral — the pas- 
sions and social manners themselves being im- 
moral." Edwin Booth, in a letter to the " Chris- 
tian Union," says, " I never permit my wife or 
daughter to witness a play without previously 
ascertaining its character. . . . While the theater 
is permitted to be a mere shop for gain, open to 
every huckster of immoral gimcracks, there is no 
other way to discriminate between the pure and 
base than through the experience of others." 

The secular press of to-day, while upholding 
the play-house, often confesses to its demoraliz- 
ing character. The Chicago " Times " says, 
"Trash of the most unadulterated description 
has largely taken possession of the stage." An- 
other Chicago paper says, "Twenty-five years 
ago, such an exhibition as is nowadays nightly 
made in this class of amusements (modern comic 
opera) in the most matter-of-fact way, would 
have gone nigh to landing the whole party in the 
police station." 



80 The Work. 

The "Detroit Free Press," of February 19, 
1882, spoke of one theatrical combination appear- 
ing in Detroit, "where sundry gods did seem to 
set their seals to give the (local) world assurance 
that there is occasional escape from the reign of 
rot." 

Mark you, only " occasional escape " from gen- 
eral rottenness. 

Mr. J. H. M'Vicker, proprietor of a Chicago 
theater, grants that there is a bad side to the 
theater, but, of course, considers it unfair to rank 
his own high-toned house with what he himself 
terms "shows that are not fit for a decent man 
or a pure woman to see." But the trouble is, the 
vile shows form the bulk of the plays, and they 
must all be sustained in order to get out of the 
whole mass a minimum of decency. 

The trend of the stage is downward, and has 
always been so. Moral degeneracy is its charac- 
teristic. Whoever it catches in its train goes 
downward with it, or is saved so as by fire. 
Where it teaches one virtue it hints upon a dozen 
vices, or possibly parades them openly. Shake- 
speare himself, the prince of dramatists, whose 
characters live forever in a pure home, is best 
read in an expurgated edition of his works. If 
this is true of Shakespeare, what shall be said of 



Dr, Talmage!s View. 31 

the body of sensational stuff wbich chiefly crowds 
the bulletin boards, and appeals to the baser in- 
stincts of man's already corrupted nature ? The 
New York ^* Evening Post " styles it " the fever- 
ish slop of a French melodrama," etc. 

It is not necessary to attend the theater to gain 
wisdom to "denounce what is bad in it." The 
only qualification needed is to look at the show- 
bills, and then inquire of some bloated attendant 
v/hether the female actors "filled the bill." 

Dr. Talmage charges upon the average Ameri- 
can theater much of the unhealth of this country. 
" The man who sits night after night until ten or 
eleven o'clock in the theater, and then takes his 
oysters and his ale, and crawls into his bed at 
twelve or one o'clock, will be a sick man. No 
physical constitution can endure it. The nerves 
shattered, the imagination excited, the strength 
exhausted, he will be eaten up by disease, and 
pitch into an early grave. The American thea- 
ter has filled the land with a army of invalids. 
We see them dying with dyspepsia, with neural- 
gia,- with liver complaints, with consumptions, 
and there is congratulation in hell that the thea- 
ter killed them. It is death to a man to be busy 
all day in a store, the air poisoned and corrupt, 
and then, as a usual thing, to spend three hours 



82 The Work. 

at night in a theater, the atmosphere of which is 
made up ten parts of cologne, fifty parts of to- 
bacco, one part of oxygen, and three hundred 
and seventy parts of poor whisky. O I have 
seen the average American theater throw upon 
society a great many weak, inane, and corrupt 
men, unfit either for living or dying. I knew a 
man in this city who was once foremost in the 
Church, who came under the fascinations of the 
American theater. He gave up the Sabbath. 
He gave up the Bible. He gave up God. He 
came to deny even his own existence, adopting 
the absurd theory that every thing is imaginary. 
He went thirty nights in succession to see Mac- 
beth in the old Broadway Theater. It blasted 
him body and soul." 

The theater is the foe of domestic weal. Par- 
ents commit their tender babes to the mercy of 
hired help while they are off satiating a depraved 
taste for sensation and display. 

The theatrical profession is characterized by 
corruption and cruelty. This is the rule, and for 
any exception to it we will be as quick to rejoice 
as any one besides. 

It is told that a Church member went behind 
the curtains of a theater and there witnessed a 
scene more tragic than any of the fictitious ever 



Cruelty of Play-actors, 33 

performed upon the stage. One of the actors 
early in the evening received a summons to the 
bedside of his dying sister, but was not permit- 
ted to leave until the play was finished and death 
had come. 

''The sister of a female actor," says the 
"Northern Christian Advocate," "recently fell 
from a bridge behind the curtains, a distance of 
thirty feet, and was taken up dying. Did the 
play cease ? Were the audience informed of the 
accident and requested to bow their heads during 
the mysterious and solemn process of a soul pass- 
ing into eternity ? No ; it was considered of para- 
mount importance that those people should have 
the full measure of what they paid their money 
for. By acting thus did not that manager ap- 
praise a soul ? Alas ! how cheap." 

But Christians attend the theater. God help 
them ! 

There is an old fable which represents that in 
a certain city Satan observed a Christian at a 
theater, and at once seized him. As he was 
about to depart with him some one shouted, 
" That man is a Christian ! " But Satan an- 
swered, "The territory of all theaters is mine, 
and whoever I find thereon I claim." 

Proprietors of theaters claim the sympathies 
3 



84 The Work. 

of all people found on their territory. Occasion- 
ally they make up an exceptionally good pro- 
gramme, advertising that no act or word or scene 
will be tolerated that can offend the purest mind, 
and all the Christians they thus draw to the one 
high-toned performance they quote and parade as 
the friends and supporters of the theater as it is, 
*Hhe house whose common and most characteris- 
tic features are an offense to purity, to religion, 
and to God." Thus every reputable patron of the 
theater, albeit he himself cannot be pointed at 
as on the high road to destruction, unwittingly 
becomes an influential, because quoted, supporter 
of an institution which is sending its multitudes 
every year farther and farther in the way to 
hell. 

The cry made by the friends of the theater 
that Christian ministers and laymen ought to 
give the theater their countenance, and thus re- 
form it, instead of giving it over to the devil 
and his allies, is the veriest bosh. Were the 
theater worth reforming, its case is utterly hope- 
less. A reformed theater is not a theater. 
There is no reform for the institution. History 
shoYvS that whenever reformation has been at- 
tempted, it has ended in signal defeat. Hannah 
More withdrew from the stage, and renounced 



JBad Atmosphere of the Theater. 85 

her dramatic productions, because she despaired 
of the reformation of the stage, and regarded it 
in its present state as "unbecoming the appear- 
ance or countenance of a Christian." 

The time is coming when all who esteem virtue 
worth defending and morality worth maintaining 
will have to lift up their voices against the bald 
indecency and profanity of the average modern 
stage. 

All theater-goers inhale for the time being an 
atmosphere infected with the contagion of irre- 
ligion, and it is doubtful whether all entirely re- 
cover from the effects. You cannot be present in 
a room filled with tobacco smoke without carry- 
ing away a taint of it; no more can you stay in 
the presence of morally infected air without bear- 
ing away with you the memory of a sneer or slur 
that will permanently injure your soul. 

The attendance of Christians upon the theater 
is disastrous in its influence upon others, especial- 
ly the young, who are not professors of religion. 
Let the members of any Church go to the theater, 
even once each in five years, but scattering along 
so that some one represents the Church every few 
weeks, and sinners, who are always present, nat- 
urally conclude that the stage is patronized andi 
supported by the Church. \ 



36 The Woek. 

Churcli authorities, with few exceptions, con- 
demn theater-going, and have standing rules 
against it. Every member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church who attends the play-house, 
and will not heed private reproof against it, is 
liable to arrest of character for imprudent con- 
duct. (See Discipline, 1880, ^ 226.) Other 
Churches look with similar disapproval upon 
theater-going. The Presbyterian ministers of 
Chicago, at a recent meeting, resolved that "the 
General Assemblies of 1818 and 1865 justly pro- 
nounced " the theater " a school of immorality," 
and that "the theater, as managed in Chicago, 
is an open gate- way of perdition, and in effect, if 
not in intention, is a persistently dangerous at- 
tack on the sacredness of family life." 

Let the theater be abolished. To this end all 
Christians should bring themselves into sympathy 
with Rev. Dr. Herrick Johnson's programme: 

" 1. The theatrical management held up to 
public scorn and social ostracism, that deliber- 
ately arranges, by purchase or hire, for the 
shameful exhibition of ' women and girls,' or the 
representation of plays where heroines are court- 
esans gilding a shameless career with sensuous 
fascination. 2. A season of State-prison made 
sure to the man or men guilty of the exhibition 



Attendance Forbidden, 37 

of licentious plays, just as it is provided now for 
the sale of licentious literature. 3. An aroused 
and sensitive public sentiment that would make 
patronage of an immoral play-house disreputable. 
4. A conscience that would make every wearer 
of Christ's name willing to lose his right hand 
rather than that hand should open the door to 
the theater, and so give to its moral abomina- 
tions, even by appearance, the sanction of Chris- 
tian profession. 5. Meanwhile an earnest, per- 
sistent, loving, aggressive preaching, by speech 
and life, of that sweet and mighty Gospel, the 
touch of whose very garments has so often made 
pollution blossom into purity, to which we owe 
all we have of purity to-day in our hearts and 
homes, and the prevalence of which at last shall 
glorify all baseness and banish all filth." 

What is true of the theater is true, in a meas- 
ure, of the modern dance. Devout people have 
no business there. Really pious minds have no 
pleasure in it. Its tendency is downward, not 
upward. True Christians of every age have per- 
ceived this, and kept themselves aloof from it. 

"The martyrs were not votaries of mixed 
dances. The illustrious names in Christian his- 
tory are not names of dancers who danced for 
amusement. The men who, in the name of God, 



88 The Work. 

came to the rescue of the world in the Dark Ages, 
and, by the brightness of their rising, scattered 
the night of mankind, did not go to their master- 
ful work ^ tripping the light fantastic toe.' 

'^ The most of them declaimed against it ; 
Church councils, again and again, have spoken 
against it; even the heathen virtue of Rome in 
the days of Cicero led him to say, ^ Nemo fere sal- 
tat sohriui nisi forte insanit'^ — 'No man dances 
when he is sober unless he is insane.' William 
Carvosso and John Fletcher, men whose charac- 
ters were almost seraphic, did not dance. John 
Wesley did not waltz through his mission of 
evangelism. The great lights of Christian his- 
tory have not gleamed in ball-rooms. 

" You cannot begin a dance with prayer. Men 
have asked blessings at tables on which were 
wine and strong drink; men who kept slaves, and 
bought and sold their fellow-creatures like cattle, 
have yet had family altars, and in some cases even 
prayed for those they traded in ; hypocrites have 
tortured religion into every shape that would serve 
them, and travestied it on every occasion when it 
could cause merriment: few things which claim 
respectability have failed to be sanctified by 
prayer, soon or later; but I have yet to hear of 
the first public ball or private hop which com- 



Tne Modem Dance. 39 

menced with supplication or closed with bene- 
diction. 

" If you could conceive it possible that a person 
could begin an evening's dance in a prayerful 
mood, you cannot conceive it possible that he 
should continue it in that mood. You would as 
soon expect a soul to find the Lord in a theater, 
or that a wanderer would be reclaimed in a bill- 
iard room, as that any dance should begin or end 
with a formal, sincere, humble recognition of 
God. 

"The people who most feel the need of God 
and pray most are not there, and thus as a rule 
there is nobody to pray. 

" Then the thing itself is not a prayerful thing 
— it has no aspiration as high as heaven; its spirit 
is vain and frivolous; its essence, display; its end, 
ephemeral sensuous pleasure or applause: it is 
^ of the earth, earthy.' " * 

Alas ! for those of the Christian name who sus- 
tain the dance. It is proof quite sufficient that 
for them religion is no satisfying portion. Where 
Christ fully satisfies there is little going out of 
the way in search for pleasure and joy. The 
world of fashion and frivolity has few allure- 
ments for minds that bear the image of the heav- 
* Kev. J. H. Bayliss, D.D. 



40 The Woek. 

enly. Let dancing Christians consider whether 
they have ever known Christ. 

Nor is open wickedness the only trouble. 
Growing indifference to religious services is a 
matter of remark throughout all the cities of the 
United States. It is noted also in England. 
Rev. Newman Hall says that there is throughout 
that country a diminishing attendance on public 
worship. As a rule, he adds, that in the large 
English towns skilled artisans ignore ecclesias- 
tical arrangements. He does not pretend to say 
that they are aggressively hostile or intensely 
infidel, but that they are indifferent to ordi- 
nary public services; that, as a class, they do 
not go to Church; that, also, to a large extent, 
this is true among the upper ranks of fashion, 
wealth, and intellect. He regrets, too, that ^ 
majority of English church-goers content them- 
selves with the morning service on Sunday, leav- 
ing the churches almost empty in the evening. 
He figures it that London has four millions of 
people, of whom one half might at one time be at 
church ; but for these two millions there is only 
accommodation for one half, and of these one 
million of seats only five hundred thousand are 
at any time occupied. 

It is doubtful whether New York, Philadelphia, 



Growing Indifference to Religion. 41 

Chicago, or Boston can make a better showing. 
Certain it is that for every church-goer in our 
land there ought to be five, and for every active 
member there should be a dozen. The state of 
religion in any country is a true index of its en- 
tire condition — moral, civil, and political. Con- 
sequently such facts and figures are by no means 
reassuring to the religious, the patriotic, or even 
to the man of the world. Practical piety is the 
bulwark of national safety. " Whoever does any 
thing," says Macaulay, " to depreciate Christian- 
ity is guilty of high treason against the civiliza- 
tion of mankind." 

Nor will truth permit the Churches themselves 
to be ignored in this inquiry. There is hardness 
of heart in many that bear the Christian name. 
If they feel any concern for the danger of the 
ungodly, they do not show it. If they have any 
confidence in God, they do not manifest it. If 
they are moved and guided by the Spirit of truth 
and love, they give no indication of the same by 
sweet and heavenly tempers and earnest, hearty 
service. 

Look at the worldly spirit in the Church ! 
Consider the eager pursuit of pleasure and riches 
and honor. How much more time is spent and 
more interest felt in obtaining property and ease 



42 The Work. 

and enjoyment than in seeking the kingdom of 
God! How much more talk about the price of 
land, grain, stock, merchandise, produce, and the 
various means of getting rich, than about the con- 
version of sinners and the progress of holiness. 
How frequently, too, Christians get warmly and 
deeply engaged about unimportant matters — 
some party strife, or social question, or financial 
plan — when the state of their own hearts and the 
condition of those around them ought to be the 
chief concern. 

A view of the danger of sinners ought to fill 
Christians with concern. If these persons were 
in a burning building where escape depended 
upon the exertions of their fellows, what efforts 
would be instinctively put forth for their deliv- 
erance. But a greater motive to move in their 
behalf is the fact that they are dishonoring God 
by their wickedness, and are momentarily ex- 
posed to helpless perdition. When one thinks of 
these things, it seems almost strange that Chris- 
tians every-where are not running the streets 
warning their fellow-men, and at intervals be- 
seeching God to arise and plead his own cause. 
The salvation of the wicked is far from being 
hopeless, and, moreover, the radical conversion of 
a wicked man is worth unbounded labor. The 



Christians Shoidd Feel Concern, 43 

satisfaction ■which such a case gives to the toil- 
worn worker repays a thousand-fold. 

It is a sad commentary on the state of our re- 
ligious lives that all these things exist, and we 
apparently feel very little interest in them or 
grief about them. Unnumbered evils can be re- 
moved when the Church is thoroughly alive to 
their removal. But when Christians themselves 
are dead, or nearly so, having little or no faith, 
prayerless, disobedient, regarding not that sin- 
ners are hardening themselves against the truth 
and perishing in iniquity, then, indeed, is the 
case desperate, and well may ministers tremble. 
Never was there greater need than now for the 
sons of God to " stand upon their watch, and sit 
upon the watch-tower, to see what the Lord will 
say unto them, and what they shall answer when 
they are reproved." Never more need to join 
with the old prophet and pray, " O Lord, revive 
thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst 
of the years make known, in wrath remember 
mercy." 

It is not pleasant to dwell upon this theme. It 
is more congenial to say, "All is well!" and 
" Peace ! peace ! " when in fact nothing is well, 
and the peace is only the apathy of coldness. 
There never was a spark of pessimism in our 



44 The Work. 

nature, but we cannot shut our eyes to truth. 
The Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby is correct in his 
assertion that the Church of God is to-day court- 
ing the world. Its members are trying to bring 
it down to the level of the ungodly. The ball, 
the theater, nude and lewd art, social lu-xuries, 
with all their loose moralities, are making inroads 
into the sacred inclosures of the Church, and as a 
satisfaction for all this worldliness Christians are 
making a great deal of Lent and Easter and Good 
Friday, and church ornamentation. It is the old 
trick of Satan. The Jewish Church struck on 
that rock, the Romish Church was wrecked on 
the same, and the Protestant Church is fast 
reaching the same doom. 

Granted that pretty much all the old forms are 
retained in the Churches, and that some of them 
are yet popular. This is one chief difficulty. 
The forms are lifeless, and save as mementoes of 
what has been, are comparatively useless. There 
is abundance of organization for aggressive work 
and grand achievement. Ministers are better 
educated than ever before. They enjoy the con- 
fidence of the public. They have fine churches 
to preach in, and many intelligent auditors to 
listen. Ministers and people are at the fullest 
liberty to devise means of usefulness, and open 



Enough of Liberalism. 45 

np new lines of access to the masses of the un- 
godly. If one half as much practical talent and 
skill were exercised in behalf of the Church as 
there is in behalf of business interests and polit- 
ical concerns, the courts of Zion would be thronged 
and the theme of religion on every tongue. 

It is time for pulpit and pew to be aroused. 
Let stern truth ring out against lying, fraud, 
adultery, infanticide, and general worldliness. 
Let a halt be called in the liberalizing tendency 
of modern thought. Enough already of the no- 
hell, hail-brother, all-is-merry creed. It is work- 
ing disaster. Give us reformers. Give us stanch 
men of old-time zeal, clothed with modern facili- 
ties for revolutionizing the popular drift of things. 
Give us a Martin Luther in Brooklyn, a John 
Knox in Chicago, and ten thousand Wesleys and 
Whitefields scattered among the cities and plains, 
all linked together in a grand brotherhood to slay 
the man of sin and purge society of its corrupt- 
ing fountain-heads. Who shall the reformers be ? 
Where are the giants for these days? Never 
better occasion or a wider field. 

What is to be done ? In the olden days, when 
opposition to the aggressive movements of the 
Church was pronounced and active, Christ's foh 
lowers girded themselves for the war, and en- 



46 The Work. 

gaged in the required service with resolute pur- 
pose to move forward to victory at any cost. 
To-day there is too much half-hearted and uncer- 
tain avowal of religious profession, and on the 
part of many too little disposition to sacrifice ease 
or wealth to further the interests of the Lord's 
cause. 

It is also to be feared that many are losing 
confidence in God. It is a time of rank and out- 
spoken skepticism. Even those whose religious 
experience ought to make them proof against the 
assaults of unbelief have caught the deadly infec- 
tion, and are apathetic and cold. It does not 
require open wickedness to destroy our confi- 
dence in God or God's confidence in us. In- 
gratitude, born of neglect of duty ; unbelief, 
growing out of spiritual coldness: these things 
effectually hinder communion with God and drive 
the Holy Spirit from us. The apostle styles un- 
belief the easily besetting sin, and so it is. With- 
out faith — an active, vigorous, appropriating faith 
— it is impossible to please God. 

Now is the time for action. Now is the time 
to contend earnestly together for the faith once 
delivered to the saints. It is a critical hour. 
God and the Church are challenged to a contest 
with Satan and his allies for the ruling spirit in 



"^Ime for Actioii. 47 

this republic and in the world. Our strength lies 
not in argument, nor carnal war, but in religious 
success, in spiritual achievement. There is a 
power in converted hearts and holy lives which 
dumbfounds the adversary and puts him to flight. 
The shouts of redeemed souls unnerve infidels and 
silence hell itself. When an unbeliever sees his 
community stirred throughout, under the preach- 
ing and praying of men for whom he has cher- 
ished little or no regard, he feels in his heart of 
hearts that the work is not of man, but of God. 
Especially is this true when his own neighbors 
come under the iufxuence and are saved, and 
when, in spite of all his efforts, he cannot keep 
the subject of religion out of his ov/n mind for a 
single hour. More infidels have been converted 
under direct religious influences than by all the 
sermons preached,, lectures delivered, or books 
written on the subject of infidelity. These are 
the works of men, but spiritual awakenings are 
the power of God. 

It is in this kind of religious labor, too, tlwat 
Christians receive their very best spiritual train- 
ing. If ever an intelligent man seeks wisdom, it 
is when he approaches his neighbor to speak an 
appropriate religious word. If ever a man is 
drawn out in sympathy, it is when his fellow im- 



48 The Woek. 

plores of him counsel and help to relieve his spir- 
itual distress. If ever a man rejoices with joy 
exceeding, even with a foretaste of heaven's rapt- 
ure, it is when he sees a religious mourner trans- 
lated, with streaming eyes and a bounding heart, 
into the kingdom of God's dear Son. In the 
Church and in the world, at home and abroad, 
there is work for the Christian to do. It is his 
mission on earth. Saved by faith, he will be 
judged by works. His Bible is full of exhorta- 
tions to holy labor. Mark the words of Paul, 
who insisted so strenuously on salvation by faith 
only: 

" Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, 
whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things 
are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever 
things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good 
report ; if there be any virtue, and if there be any 
praise, think on these things." 



Practical Piety a Necessity, 49 



III. 
IN WEAKNESS. 

ARE faith, love, and devotion increasing, or 
are they declining ? A similar question was 
asked more than eighteen hundred years ago : 
"When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find 
faith on the earth ? " 

Sin has abounded in all ages, and the good 
people of every generation have nearly despaired 
of realizing the Christian's blessed hope. There 
has been much to discourage, much to oppose. 
Only because God's grace abounds more than sin 
can his people hold on their way. 

** The only star that never sets, 
Though all its sister fires may fly — 

The only flower that never droops, 
Though all its fair companions die — 
Is fadeless hope." 

A more practical question would be, Have I liv- 
ing faith in my own heart ? Is my love to God 
stronger than in other days ? Am I more devoted 
and spiritual than ever before ? Am I in all re- 
spects ready for the coming of the Son of man ? 
4 



50 In Weakness. 

Jesus answered the question put to him by 
speakii^g the parable of the Pharisee and pub- 
lican, designing it especially for those " which 
trusted in themselves that they were righteous.'' 
That parable is peculiarly applicable at the pres- 
ent time. Self-righteousness now fairly reigns. 
The average man thanks God that he is not as 
other men are, especially such as exhibit the 
spirit of humility, and walk in all the command- 
ments of the Lord blameless. It is a great age 
for boasting, not so much of fasting "twice in 
the week," as of feasting seven times; not so 
much of giving tithes of entire possessions, as of 
multiplying possessions and entirely withholding 
tithes. There are too many who stand, as did 
the Pharisee, and parade their good qualities; 
too few who really humble themselves and cry 
to God for mercy. It is the weakness and defect 
of all our worship and work that we trust God 
too little and ourselves too much. 

We sometimes think and talk about the millen- 
nium, but few have any definite idea of what is 
to constitute its peculiar blessedness. They ap- 
pear to imagine that a great miracle will be 
wrought to usher in that glorious day, and that 
by some external process or influence all hearts 
are to be thrilled with new joy, all eyes filled 



Why Not Have the Millennium Now ? 51 

with wonderful visions, and all people clothed 
with visible garments of righteousness. Not so. 
Though, as Pope sings, 

" All crimes shall cease, and ancient frauds shall fail ; 

Returning Justice lift aloft her scale ; 

Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend, 

And white-robed Innocence from heaven descend ;" 

yet no miraculous exertion of divine power need 
be looked for. Rather will the natural religious 
action of mind on mind, of heart on heart, under 
the influence of the Holy Ghost, bring about that 
general reign of peace. The fire of God's love 
will burn brighter and brighter on every holy 
altar until the flames of all hearts mingle to- 
gether, encircling the whole extent of the habit- 
able globe with a common warmth and unbroken 
illumination. 

Why, then, may not the spirit of the millen- 
nium be now aroused and enjoyed ? Why may not 
individual Christians have to-day the pure affec- 
tion and perfect rest of soul which will then be 
universal? God speaks to-day: "Be ye holy, for 
I am holy." "Love one another, for love is of 
God." " My presence shall go with thee, and I 
will give thee rest." We have the same Bible, 
the same Saviour, the same Comforter, the same 
plan of salvation, the same field of action, and 



52 In Weakness. 

the same motives to be pure and spiritual that 
Christians will have in the time to come. If the 
universal reign of righteousness is deferred a 
thousand years, it will be simply because the 
present and immediately succeeding generation 
prefer " this poor dying rate " of spiritual life to 
the fervent love and holy zeal and vigorous work 
which the people of some future time will show 
forth, thus realizing the fulfillment of the King's 
promise: ^' All the ends of the world shall remem- 
ber and turn unto the Lord; and all the kindreds 
of the nation shall worship before thee." 

When we contemplate the goodness of God in 
providing so amply for all our wants, and prof- 
fering his own almighty aid to help us in our 
weakness, we can but say. How short-sighted, 
foolish, and vain is man, that the race is not al- 
ready delivered from sin, and the earth blossoming 
and blooming as the rose ! The difficulty is with 
ourselves. The offense is our own. It is a weak- 
ness attaching to perverse human nature. Instead 
of drawing near to God to receive the blessings 
he offers us, we go away, refusing to receive his 
benediction. In our far-off state, our non-recep- 
tive attitude, we miss most if not all the precious 
experiences of the Christian life. Surely for this 
no one is blamable but ourselves. If we choose 



Ma7% Alo7ie at Fault, 53 

to make our home under the shadow of a mount- 
ain, observes the " Criterion," " we ought not to 
complain that the sunlight does not enter there. 
If we seek a dwelling place in a cavern under- 
ground, we ought not to cry out against God for 
not giving us a blue sky and green fields and 
flowers and birds. It is all our own doing. The 
world is wide and full of pleasant places wherein 
we might fix our abode. If we choose shadows, 
darkness, and dreariness, shall God be blamed? 
Do we complain because we have not a larger 
measure of the Spirit of grace and love in our 
hearts ? Do we sometimes feel that God is afar 
from us, that the way is dark, and the burdens 
very heavy? Do we mourn over our coldness 
and indifference to spiritual things? If this be 
true, it may be well for us to ask ourselves 
whether it is not, on the whole, our own fault. 
Is there nothing standing between us and God ? 
Surely, if we have not a fullness of spiritual gifts, 
it is not because of the slackness of the Giver, or 
because of an insuflSciency of grace, mercy, and 
love. If our Christian life is not full of joy and 
hope, as it should be, it is because we do not 
open the way for it to flow in upon us from his 
precious word and from the presence of the Holy 
Spirit. These gracious influences are all about 



54 In Weakness. 

us, like the sunlight, and we have only to open 
our hearts to let them in. If we do not open to 
him who says, 'Behold I stand at the door and 
knock,' shall we complain that he does not come 
in and sup with us, and we with him? If we 
steep our hearts in worldliness, and shut out 
from our daily lives all thought of God, need we 
wonder that we fall into coldness and indif- 
ference ? " 

Look at the excuses and confessions ! Some of 
them are honest, and some are mere pretexts. 

" O," says one, " when I consider how some 
others have lived, and the duties I ought to per- 
form, the privileges I ought to improve, and the 
indisposition of my own heart, I am led to won- 
der whether I have any religion at all; whether, 
if I have any grace whatever, it is sufficient for 
these things." 

Says another: " Look at my circumstances and 
surroundings; pinched for the necessaries of life, 
hard work all the time, ungodly neighbors, and 
too indifferent fellow Church members; abstract 
piety, which some people preach, cannot exist in 
such a state of things." 

Says a third: ^'I have not yet been led down 
to that spot where it seemed to me, if all else 
were absent, it were enough if Christ were there, 



Excuses and Confessions, 55 

and I was performing his will. It is yet as it has 
been. Gloomy days will come, worldly cares will 
huddle together in spite of all efforts to reduce 
them to an equal pressure; and then come hurry, 
care, and departure from God, and busy thoughts 
of other things." 

It is natural for the heart, in the midst of its 
declining zeal, to plead its own cause and find ex- 
cuses for its own low estate. It is natural, too, 
to imagine that, amid surroundings more favora- 
ble to piety, a higher plane would be reached. 
This may be true, and yet it is divine power 
combined with the consecrated energies of a re- 
deemed soul which leads to moral uplifting. The 
external atmosphere, natural or moral, may have 
its limited influence, but it is God from whom 
our help cometh. He is very near every one 
that calleth upon him, and delay eth not to ex- 
tend rightfully desired aid. The mere matter of 
outward circumstances in the work of faith is of 
trifling consequence. "As thy day, so shall thy 
strength be," is a promise expressly made for the 
troubled, the tried, and the unfortunate. 

" Let cares like a wild deluge come, 
Let storms of sorrow fall," 

the soul that has learned to live by practical faith 
on the Son of God dwells safely and securely, 



56 In Weakness. 

•while the individual who knows nothing of this 
important lesson faints and fails in a place and 
state most conducive to spirituality. 

The greatest drawback, however, in the appro- 
priation of divine help is a want of conviction of 
its need. Men lose sight of life's great object. 
Their eyes are blinded that they see not their 
true mission clearly. Getting money and being 
happy displace as motives the higher obligations 
of getting wisdom and being holy. It follows 
that, with worldly motives, human strength is 
found more nearly adequate to the accomplish- 
ment of life's purposes and plans. The simple 
conditions of wealth are industry, perseverance, 
and economy. These, with ordinary business sa- 
gacity, are sure to result in a competency in the 
space of a life-time. Little divine help is needed, 
sought, or wanted by an American especially, 
whose mind is set on a fortune. Wealth is the 
goal for which the millions of this generation are 
striving. It is one long, general, commanding 
struggle for financial supremacy that every day 
stirs society from center to circumference. Not 
bread to eat simply, or raiment to put on, but 
money to spend in luxury and extravagance. 
The interminable conflict between capital and 
labor rages around this central truth. Great for- 



Godlessness of Wealthy Men. 57 

tunes are grouped together in forms of corpora- 
tions and monopolies to utilize labor at a mini- 
mum rate of compensation, for the one primary- 
purpose of adding to the original capital thirty, 
sixty, or a hundred-fold. Now, in all these un- 
dertakings, God is left out. " Corporations have 
no souls." The good old idea that the judgment 
of three is better than that of one, if modernized 
would be, "The judgment of three is all-suffi- 
cient." 

Most of the nation's millionaires are godless. 
There is no fear of God before their eyes; no 
felt want of God in their hearts. They are flat- 
tered, favored, and honored generally beyond 
their intellectual and moral deserts. This is 
their portion. We would not forget to note the 
few noble exceptions to this rule. God has some 
faithful stewards among the representatives of 
great fortunes. Every week brings intelligence 
of splendid gifts to worthy causes. But were all 
the rich alike faithful to their trusts every hour 
would include the present donations of seven 
days. 

What is true of the struggle for wealth is also 
true of the pursuit of happiness. Indeed, the 
same principles obtain throughout all depart- 
ments of life. The five senses are depended 



58 In Weakness. 

upon as the main channels for the reception of 
life's coveted joys, and, as George MacDonald 
tersely said, " The region of the senses is the un- 
believing part of the human soul." The majority 
never felt the thrill of highest happiness possible 
to man. The little sensations of pleasure, conse- 
quent upon agreeable taste, sight, or sound, are 
naught compared with the exalted state of felici- 
ty to which the strong in Christ have attained. 
To be strong is to be happy, and 

*' True happiness ne'er entered at an eye ; 
True happiness resides in things unseen." 

Nevertheless, the majority are well satisfied 
with the pleasures of ungodliness, and appear 
disinclined to distrust themselves, their fellows, 
and the world for all the happiness they may 
ever know. 

Thus to one thing and another men devote all 
their energies and powers. Their own mortality, 
the limit of their endurance, and the brevity of 
their career are lost si^ht of. Their one design — 
to gratify self — is paramount above all others. 
Such pray not, praise little, and humble them- 
selves no more. The obligations of the creature 
to the Creator they ignore. The dependence of 
the finite upon the infinite they disregard. The 



Selfishness. 59 

blessings of salvation they despise. Having en- 
tered upon life, they toil and strive, accumulate 
and enjoy, spend their strength with their years, 
grow gray, decrepit, weak, and childish, and at 
length gather up their weary feet and tremu- 
lously die, illustrating nothing more forcibly 
than the truth that all such strength is utter 
weakness, all such wisdom utter folly. What a 
contrast to such a life is that of the strong man 
in Christ ! He liveth not to himself, and dieth 
not to himself. He lives with another life in 
view. While using the world he abuses it not. 
In health and strength and happiness he is thank- 
ful for such blessings. Remembering his Crea- 
tor, he meets the obligations of the creature ; 
appreciating the goodness of the Redeemer, he 
acts the obedient part of the redeemed; conse- 
crating all to God, and using his gifts and facul- 
ties for the glory of God, he follows after purity, 
does good among men, is serene in spirit, resigned 
to the will of Heaven, awaits his call, hears the 
summons, and as he responds with his life, real- 
izes, to his eternal joy, that God is the strength 
of his life and his portion forever. 



60 Full Surrender. 



IV. 
FULL SUBRENDEK. 

THE surrender of the will is the vital turning- 
point of the mind toward a life of piety and 
devotion to God. But this surrender does not 
imply that the will shall no longer be actively 
exercised. It is a mistake to imagine that the 
will of the Christian is no longer his own ; that 
it lies inactive, as it were, a thing of disuse, and 
practically no longer needful. The man of God 
is not such a machine as this false idea would 
make him. It is true that he has submitted him- 
self to God, that the spirit and cry of his heart 
is, "Not my will, but thine, O God, be done,'' 
yet he remains a man, with power to choose and 
to act as an enlightened conscience dictates; yea, 
more, with mental power to rebel against high 
Heaven, and to go back to a groveling life of sin 
and death. The surrender of the will to God is 
nothing more or less than a sensible recognition 
of God's superior wisdom, power, and goodness, a 
desire to be subject unto him, and a resolute ac- 
tion of mind whereby all our powers are brought 



What is Meant hy Surrender. 61 

into harmony with God's laws as revealed in his 
word and by the influences of his Spirit. Our 
wills are not thus lost, except morally, to self and 
sin. They are still our own, though by their act 
we become God's children, with our wills subject 
unto his. 

" Our wills are ours, we know not how ; 
Our wills are ours, to make them Thine." 

Epictetus wrote, "There is nothing good or 
evil save in the will." A life of genuine holiness 
is not only a consistent life of faith in the Son of 
God, but a life of constant and conscious self- 
surrender of soul and body to his service. It is 
not enough that we once for a moment yielded 
ourselves to him; the yielding embraces a life- 
time of willing consecration. While by constant 
exercise the will becomes stronger in its inclina- 
tion toward purity, and consequently weaker in 
its leaning toward the "filthiness of the flesh," 
yet every expression of a saintly life, whether in 
word, deed, or bearing, recognizable as a Chris- 
tian trait, is the result of activity in the will, a 
deliberate choosing of right; in other words, a 
doing of the will of God. So steadfast and uni- 
form may be these deliberations of the mind to- 
ward what is godlike, that a sort of habit of piety 



62 Full Sukeender. 

is formed, and we speak of the happy subject as 
a confirmed Christian, one established in the prin- 
ciples of a holy life. It is thus seen that 

" The readiness of doing doth express 
No other but the doer's willingness." 

It is his joy to do his Maker's will. So com- 
plete is his self-mastery, under the power of 
grace, that to live to God in Christ is his blessed- 
ness. " I live ! " he exclaims, '^ yet not I, but 
Christ liveth in me." ^* O what a blessed thing 
it is," said Payson, " to lose one's will ! Since I 
have lost my will I ha,ve found happiness. There 
can be no such thing as disappointment to me, for 
I have no desires but that God's will may be ac- 
complished." This is the testimony of each one 
who has found out what it is to give up his own 
life, and to receive instead the blessed life of 
Christ within him. 

Thus Madame Guy on: 

" Peace has unveiled her smiling face, 
And woos thy soul to her embrace : 
Enjoyed with ease, if thou refrain 
From selfish love, else sought in vain ; 
She dwells with all who truth prefer, 
But seeks not them who seek not her. 

" Yield to the Lord, with simple heart. 
All that thou hast, and all thou art ; 



Jilessediiess of Suhmissio7i. 63 

Renounce all strength but strength divine, 
And peace shall be forever thine ; 
Behold the path which I have trod, 
My path, till I go home to God." 

Abraham, when he pleaded with God for Sodom, 
felt himself to be "but dust and ashes;" and aft- 
erward, when called to give up his only son, 
Isaac, his answer, " Behold, here am I," indicated 
a willing, sincere mind, and an anxiety to know 
the will of God, that it might be obeyed. And 
we find in the Bible that this spirit characterizes 
the holiest men. Thus David declares, "Truly 
my soul waiteth upon God;" "My soul thirsteth 
after God;" "My soul breaketh for the longing 
that it hath unto his judgments at all times;" 
" How sweet are thy words unto my taste ;" 
"Thy word is very pure, therefore thy servant 
loveth it;" "For thy sake are we killed all the 
day long;" " O how love I thy law." Isaiah 
cried, " Woe is me! for I am undone; for I am a 
man of unclean lips," etc.; and then, after the 
fire of God had touched his lips, he said, " Here 
am I; send me." Moses, at the manifestations of 
Jehovah, did "exceedingly fear and quake." 
Saul of Tarsus, trembling, said, " Lord, what wilt 
thou have me to do ? " and afterward, at the 
thought of being a savor of life unto life unto 



64: Full Surrender. 

some, and of death unto death to others, he cried 
out, " Who is sufficient for these things ? " So 
has it ever been when the Lord has subdued a 
spirit by his grace. " To this man will I look," 
said he, " even to him that is poor, and of a con- 
trite spirit, and trembleth at my word." The 
least breath of the Spirit moves the true Chris- 
tian, and his entire will vibrates to the pulsations 
of love in the heart of Christ, the fountain head. 

What God requires of us, declared the clear- 
visioned Fenelon, is a will which is no longer di- 
vided between him and any creature ; a simple, 
pliable state of will which desires what he de- 
sires, rejects nothing but what he rejects, and 
wills without reserve what he wills, and under 
no pretext wills what he does not. In this state 
of mind all things are proper for us ; our amuse- 
ments even are acceptable in his sight. 

Blessed is he who thus gives himself to God ! 
He is delivered from his passions, from the opin- 
ions of men, from their malice, from the tyranny 
of their maxims, from their cold and miserable 
raillery, from the misfortunes which the world 
attributes to chance, from the infidelity and fick- 
leness of friends, from the artifices and snares of 
enemies, from the wretchedness and shortness of 
life, from the horrors of an ungodly death, from 



God Requires the Will. 65 

the cruel remorse that follows sinful pleasures, 
and from the everlasting condemnation of God. 
Is not this worth while ? As the poet pleads : 

" 0, soul ! o'erwhelmed by grief and care, 
Come to thy God and bow in prayer ; 
And know that every joy in one 
Is asked when breathed, * Thy will be done.' 

" His will is best, his eyes can see 
Whatever the future has for thee ; 
Take neither joy nor grief alone. 
But say in each, * Thy will be done.' 

" His will is often not like ours, 
Thorns seem to come instead of flowers ; 
And rough may be the road to run, 
But, soul, still say, * Thy will be done.' 

" Sometime, in realms of glittering gold. 
Where God each mystery shall unfold. 
We'll see 'twas best, when crowns we've won, 
That here we said, * Thy will be done.' " 

How many who have started in the Christian 
way have ascertained by a bitter experience that, 
in the matter of both entire surrender and simple 
trust, the greatest enemy is self. "Now it re- 
fuses to give up its will ; then again, by its work- 
ing, it hinders God's work. Unless this life of 
self, with its willing and working, be displaced 
by the life of Christ, with his willing and work- 
ing, to abide in him will be impossible." It is 



66 Full Stjkren^der. 

more dangerous to undertake to serve Christ 
selfishly than it is utterly to rebel against him. 
In the latter case there is little liability of self- 
deception, while in the former there may be a 
complacent dreaming of peace when there is no 
peace, and of a future heaven when there is prep- 
aration only for an endless hell. 

We submit it as the most important step a man 
can take to voluntarily place himself in the atti- 
tude and experience of conscious self- surrender 
to God. The Bible requires it, and proclaims it 
as a condition of knowledge, usefulness, and 
heaven. "If any man will do his will, he shall 
know of the doctrine, whether it be of God." " If 
there be first a willing mind, it is accepted ac- 
cording to that a man hath." "He that doeth 
the will of God abideth forever." In one of our 
sacred songs the true sentiment is embodied: 

" My Jesus, as thou wilt : 

may thy will be mine ; 
Into thy hand of love 

1 would my all resign. 
Through sorrow or through joy, 

Conduct me as thine own, 
And help me still to say, 

* My Lord, thy will be done.' " 

A young clergyman of New York once wrote 
some lines on " The Consecrated Will," which 



Tlie Consecrated Will. 67 

are very expressive, and ought to be better 
known: 

** Laid on thine altar, my Lord divine, 

Accept my gift this day for Jesus' sake ; 
I have no jewels to adorn thy shrine, 

Nor any world-famed sacrifice to make. 
But here I bring within ray trembling hand 

This will of mine — a thing that seemeth small ; 
And only thou, dear Lord, canst understand 

How when I yield thee this I yield mine all. 
Hidden therein, thy searching eye can see 

Struggles of passion, visions of delight, 
All that I love, or am, or fain would be — 

Deep loves, fond hopes, and longings infinite. 
It hath been wet with tears and dimmed with sighs, 

Clenched in my grasp, till beauty it hath none. 
Now from thy footstool, where it vanquished lies, 

The prayer ascendeth. May thy will be done ! 
Take it, Father, ere my courage fail, 

And merge it so in thine own will, that e'en 
If in some desperate hour my cries prevail, 

And thou give back my gift, it may have been 
So changed, so purified, so fair have grown. 

So one with thee, so filled with peace divine, 
I may not know or feel it as mine own, 

But gaining back my will may find it thine." 



68 The Revival. 



V. 

THE KEVIVAL. 

Ty EVIVAL signifies a return to life, or a quick- 
XL ening of life. It is a rising from a low state 
into a higher. In religion it is the increase and 
energizing of spiritual life, an extraordinary out- 
pouring of God's power in the soul, and upon the 
Church and the world. 

Religious revivals are the life of the world. 
As nature would die with continued winter, so 
the world would utterly perish in wickedness if 
God did not display his saving power. Who can 
tell what history would have already recorded 
but for the glorious reformation under Luther, 
and the not less spiritual awakenings under Wes- 
ley, Whiteiield, and Edwards ? 

Revivals often come unexpectedly to the multi- 
tude. The day of Pentecost was a surprise to 
the Jews. The Church was very weak, and her 
outlook apparently was unpromising enough. 
Christ had been crucified, and had disappeared 
from earth. Skepticism seemed to triumph. 
The disciples were nearly disconsolate, but con- 



Responsibility of the Church. 69 

tinued their prayers. At length the mysterious 
sound was heard, the cloven tongues appeared, 
the mighty power fell, and, endowed therewith, 
the apostles began publicly to preach and exhort, 
three thousand souls being saved the first day. 
But back of all this man's agency appears. 
Long days of waiting, watching, and applica- 
tion preceded the public spectacle. The world 
knew it not, but God and his faithful disciples 
knew. 

For the salvation of souls great responsibility 
always devolves upon humanity. Some one has 
said that there never was a soul saved apart from 
human agency. Certain it is that God uses man 
to save man, and has sent his Spirit into the 
world for the very purpose of preparing it thor- 
oughly for success in Christian work. " He [the 
Spirit] shall reprove the world of sin, of right- 
eousness, and of judgment to come." When the 
unconverted are convicted of sin by the Holy 
Ghost it is the express mission of Christians to 
point them to Christ, to tenderly counsel them 
and lead them in the way of life. Nor are Chris- 
tians always to wait for visible tokens of contri- 
tion. Serious hearts sometimes beat behind laugh- 
ing faces. Some temperaments use this device to 
conceal godly sorrow. They sing when they feel 



70 The Reviyal. 

like sighing, and smile when they can hardly re- 
frain from tears. 

Moreover, Christians cannot know just when 
their efforts for good will be most effectual. 
How often a single word spoken by a soul in 
communion with Christ is like the spark that 
springs a mine, opening up and clearing the way 
for the mighty revival which follows ! No one 
can account for it. As a cause, it appears inade- 
quate, but in the hands of God it is an earth- 
quake shock, followed by a tremendous moral 
upheaval. We believe it might truthfully be 
said that in every case of genuine revival one or 
more souls have been dwelling in the inner sanc- 
tuary — ^have been waiting on the Lord for the 
renewal of strength — and thus invigorated, their 
simple words or deeds have inaugurated the visi- 
ble manifestations of God's presence and power. 
It is somewhere written that a poor blacksmith 
in western New York became greatly concerned 
for the state of the Church. Unable either to 
work or rest, he closed his shop and betook him- 
self to prayer. There were no doubts or misgiv- 
ings in his heart as he wrestled mightily for the 
spirit and power of revival in the Churches. At 
length a meeting was opened. God's Spirit came 
upon the people. The fire of love began to burn. 



Agencies in Hevivals. 71 

The faith of many was strengthened and their 
spiritual life quickened. The influence extended 
to the unconverted, and, ere the meeting closed, 
over two hundred souls were saved. What a 
triumph for the humble blacksmith; and what a 
beautiful illustration of the truth that God is no 
respecter of persons: but in every nation and in 
every place he that feareth him, and worketh 
righteousness, is accepted with him ! 

There are three agencies to be depended upon 
for the promotion of revivals — the word of God, 
the v/ork of the Spirit, and the labors of Chris- 
tians. The first two are the same to-day as when 
Whitefield and Edwards became instrumental in 
turning thousands to God. The success of Moody 
and other great evangelists proves that the super- 
human agencies are as effectual as ever. How is 
it with the remaining instrumentality ? We well 
know that when these three agencies operate in 
concert revivals follow. Sinners cannot resist the 
combined influence of proclaimed Bible truth, 
moving Spirit-power, and active Christian faith 
and work. They may resist any two of them, 
but not all. Now, the word and Spirit are al- 
ways testifying to the truth, but Christians, the 
only remaining agency, so speak and act, or fail 
to speak and act, as to nullify their influences. 



72 The Revival. 

" Ye are our epistles," said the apostle, " known 
and read of all men." What do sinners read of 
us ? Is it the spirit and temper, the meekness 
and gentleness, the humility and lowliness, the 
self-denial and charity, the zeal and activity of 
Jesus Christ ? Do we set no examples of unbe- 
lief, selfishness, worldliness, and folly? Have 
not our lives, if not our lips, been testifying 
against the blessed agencies of God's word and 
Spirit ? And have not sinners by thousands be- 
lieved our testimony and unfortunately rejected 
God and Christ ? 

Genuine brotherly love is promotive of the re- 
vival spirit, but how little of it there is in the 
world ! Most Christians, and worldlings, too, can 
say, *^ I have nothing against any of my breth- 
ren," which is about equivalent to, "I do not 
now downrightly hate any of them." True 
brotherly love is characterized by a tender sym- 
pathy with and lively interest in the welfare of 
fellow-Christians. It is such a spirit as Christ 
exercised toward them in offering himself a sac- 
rifice for them, after he had gone about healing 
their diseases, comforting their hearts, and doing 
them good in every possible way. Where this 
spirit is exemplified in the Church the uncon- 
verted look on, know that it is different from the 



The ^^Ever-learniiig'^'' Class. 73 

spirit of the world, that it is the right spirit, a 
spirit to be desired and promoted, and straight- 
way they feel a new interest in the grace of 
Christ which begets it. This is the beginning of 
a revival. 

In every community there are persons whose 
lives are outwardly circumspect, who are respect- 
ful toward the Church and. the ministry — nay, 
more, are liberal supporters of them, contributing 
of their substance and personally attending the 
public services — who, after all, are unrenewed in 
the spirit of their minds, and no nearer the king- 
dom of God to-day than they were ten years ago. 
They are the class whom Paul designated as 
" ever learning, yet never coming to a knowledge 
of the truth." There is some essential lack in 
the Church when the unsaved can thus continue 
on from one decade to another, no break ever 
being made in their ranks by sound conversion 
to Christ. How often it has occurred that when 
a community is visited with a gracious outpour- 
ing of the Spirit such persons are happily res- 
cued ! Only a breath from heaven can do it. 
They are proof against logical preaching and 
telling conversational argument. Prayer and ex- 
hortation under the regular routine affect them 
not. It must be a message from the throne, em- 



74 TuE Revival. 

pliaslzed by the infinite energies of tlie Holy 
Ghost, to break such hearts and build them up in 
God. 

Yet humanity is to do all it can. Men are 
to go to the very extremity of their ability ere 
expecting that God shall come to the rescue. 
When ministers lay their time, talents, affections, 
energies anew upon the altar, making a complete 
sacrifice of themselves and their all for the Mas- 
ter's use; when laymen follow their examples, and 
come up to the help of the Lord against the 
mighty, the w^orld is generally presented with a 
spectacle of conquest and victory wonderful to 
behold. 

As a rule there needs to be a general confession 
as well as forsaking of sin before a great out- 
pouring of the Spirit may be expected. "We 
have sinned with our fathers, and have done 
•wickedly." There never was a period when the 
disposition to self-indulgence and palliation for 
wickedness was so strong as to-day. The pre- 
vailing concession seems to be, '^ We are all poor, 
miserable sinners, none better than the masses, 
and we all stand or fall together." Never was 
there a more fatal error. Every man answereth 
for himself. There is a narrow way in which we 
may walk and find heaven at last, even though 



Confession Needed, 75 

the broad way be thronged with travelers to de- 
struction. The trouble is, people have a lurking 
desire for self-indulgence, if not for the commis- 
sion of some secret sin, and this is why they talk 
about the necessity of sinning and attempt to jus- 
tify it. It will not do. God is holy, and doth 
not look upon sin with allowance. We must 
confess our sins and forsake them, else salvation 
is impossible, and it may be said that no sin is 
truly confessed which is not forsaken. We must 
loathe unrighteousness in our inmost souls, and 
we must confess with the mouth, as well as the 
life, that others shall know that the spirit of holi- 
ness is born within us. This will give us power. 
We have no confidence in our prayers when our 
hearts condemn us. We do not and cannot ex- 
pect God to answer them. But when our hearts 
are broken — when we have confessed and put 
away all our sins — our confidence will be great 
in asking, and no needed blessing will be with- 
held. 

Spurgeon well says, "Let the bucket of the 
heart be turned upside down and drained of the 
love of sin, and then prayer will be heard and 
Jesus will come in and fill it." 

"Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house, 
that there may be meat in mine house, and prove 



76 The Revival. 

me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I 
will not open the windows of heaven, and pour 
you out a blessing, that there shall not be room 
enough to receive it." God has put a close con- 
nection also between Christian beneficence and 
spiritual power, between the meeting of our fi- 
nancial obligations as Churches and individuals 
and the outpouring of revival mercy. Jesus 
preached most powerfully against the sin of 
covetousness, and one of the first results of the 
outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost 
was generous gifts of money — in some cases 
" whole possessions " — to form a common treasury 
for the apostles' use. The people of the early 
Churches "first gave themselves to the Lord," 
and then out of their " deep poverty " devised 
liberal things. Too many people of modern 
Churches fail, even out of immense riches, to be- 
stow just offerings for the promotion of God's 
work. They need not go beyond this fact for 
the secret of the barrenness which attends pro- 
tracted meetings. The "windows of heaven" 
are not open to such as bring not the tithes. 
Prayers, exhortations, and other spiritual services 
are good, but there must also be a touch of the 
same grace that was in Christ, " who, though he 
was rich^ yet for our sakes became poor." We 



Abide in Christ. 77 

must have his spirit of sacrifice and self-denial. 
It is thus we live in him and he in us. A com- 
mon spirit begets a common sympathy and a com- 
mon life. 

" If ye abide in me," says Jesus, " and my words 
abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall 
be done unto you." Too many remember this prom- 
ise but forget its condition, whereas the condition 
is the vital point they should fix in their hearts. 
" To the Christian who is not abiding wholly in 
Jesus, the difficulty of asking blessings, and per- 
liaps receiving them not, is so great as to rob him 
of the comfort and the strength it could bring. 
Under the guise of humility, he asks how one so 
unworthy could expect to have influence with the 
holy One. He prays, but it is more because he 
cannot rest without prayer than from a loving 
faith that the prayer will be heard. But what a 
blessed relief from such perplexity is given to the 
man who is truly abiding in Christ ! He realizes 
increasingly how it is in the real spiritual unity 
with Christ that we are accepted and heard. 
The union with the Son of God is a life union: 
we are in very deed one with him — our prayer 
ascends as his prayer, our offering is accepted as 
his offering. It is because we abide in him in 
constant devotedness and self-denying generosity 



78 The Revival. 

that we can ask what we will and it is given us. 
Such a state inclines us to pray according to the 
will of God, and with the purpose of seeking only 
his glory. It works in us the faith which alone 
can obtain the answer and keep us in the place 
where the answer can be bestowed." 

Under such conditions the active, praying spirit 
is not sufficiently alive in the Church. We have 
grown rich and increased with goods, and have 
come to think that we need nothing, and others 
need nothing from us, forgetting that we have 
the poor always with us, and that morally we are 
as ever destitute, poor, and blind, having the 
same seeds of death in our natures, and exposed, 
as of old, to banishment from God and eternal 
misery. In the aggregate there is considerable 
paying, but very little real sacrifice for pure 
love's sake. There is much formal praying, but 
little of the wrestling that prevails with God 
and secures the blessing. This is the reason 
why doubt has sprung up as to the efficacy of 
prayer. The best way, the only way, to dissolve 
the doubt is by personal consecration of all we 
have to God, and by living communion with him. 
While cold-hearted skepticism may reason and 
deny, warm-hearted, brother-loving faith is per- 
severing in effort and prevailing in prayer for 



Church Can TaJce the World fo?' Christ, 79 

that grandeur of victory and fullness of blessing 
which only the consciously saved enjoy. O for 
more of this earnest, confident, prevailing prayer! 
O for more of this self-denying and self-giving 
spirit of service ! How they v/ould energize the 
weakened forces of the Church and change the 
attitude and spirit of worldly men ! Numerous, 
remarks another, as are the ranks of the uncon- 
verted, they will most surely and rapidly disap- 
pear when once the passion of saving souls takes 
possession of Christ's Church on earth; when, in 
the warehouse and in the shop, in the factory and in 
the mill, in the granary and in tlie field, on the 
roadside and at the fireside, in the city and in the 
country, on the sea and on the shore, men and 
women are eagerly watching to win some soul to 
Christ; when love for the world shall burn in 
each heart, prayer for the world ascend from 
each lip, bounty for the world drop from each 
hand, the message gush from every tongue; then, 
O then, shall linger no longer the salvation of a 
ruined race ! 



80 The Christian Spirit. 



YI. 
THE CHRISTIAN SPIRIT. 

HOW familiar the expression, "You must show 
a Christian spirit ;" or, " That is not the 
Christian spirit." What is meant by it ? 

Were any one trait of character or disposition 
to be selected as the exponent of the Christian 
spirit, that of gentleness or tenderness would 
most likely meet the common view. According 
to this notion, all harshness of speech and severi- 
ty of measures would be condemned as not in 
keeping with the Christian spirit. Let any one 
quality be chosen to represent that spirit, and 
numerous other qualities would fall under cen- 
sure. 

What is the Christian spirit ? We answer, No 
one quality can represent it under all circum- 
stances. It is not kindness simply, nor gentle- 
ness, nor patience, nor forgiveness, though any of 
these graces may exhibit it in certain relations. 
It is not resignation only, nor humility, but it is 
that condition of mind and heart which is suited 
to the circumstances in which one providentially 



Firmness and Decision. 81 

may be placed. '' Under injuries, for examjDle, 
meekness is a Christian spirit ; under intense per- 
sonal suffering, patience is a Christian spirit; 
toward a wrong-doer who is penitent, forgive- 
ness is a Christian spirit." And so on to the end 
of all the traits of Christian character and life. 

There come times in the history of individuals 
when much firmness and decision are necessary to 
the maintenance of Christian character. Under 
such circumstances a yielding, acquiescing spirit 
would be any thing but Christian. An illustra- 
tion is found in Dr. Mahan's account of the 
daughter of an English nobleman who providen- 
tially was brought under the influence of deeply 
religious people, and thus came to a saving knowl- 
edge of the truth as it is in Jesus. The father 
was almost distracted at the event, and by threats, 
temptations to extravagance in dress, by reading 
and traveling in foreign countries, and to places of 
fashionable resort, took every means in his power 
to divert her mind from " things unseen and eter- 
nal." But her "heart was fixed." The God of 
Abraham had become ^' her shield, and her ex- 
ceeding great reward," and she was determined 
that nothing finite should deprive her of her in- 
finite and eternal portion in him or displace him 

from the center of her heart. At last the father 
6 



82 The Cheistian Spieit, 

resolved upon a final and desperate expedient, by 
which his end should be gained, or his daughter 
ruined, so far as her prospects in this life were 
concerned. A large company of the nobility 
were invited to his house. It Avas so arranged 
that, during the festivities, the daughters of dif- 
ferent noblemen, and among others this one, 
were to be called on to entertain the company 
with singing and music on the piano. If she 
complied, she parted with heaven and returned 
to the world; if she refused compliance, she 
would be publicly disgraced, and lose, past the 
possibility of recovery, her place in society. It 
was a dreadful crisis, and with peaceful confi- 
dence did she await it. As the crisis approached 
different individuals, at the call of the company, 
performed their parts with the greatest applause. 
At last the name of this daughter was announced. 
In a moment all were in fixed and silent suspense 
to see how the scale of destiny would turn. 
Without hesitation she rose, and with a calm and 
dignified composure took her place at the instru- 
ment. After a moment spent in silent prayer, 
she ran her fingers along the keys, and then, with 
an unearthly sweetness, elevation, and solemnity, 
sang, accompanying her voice with the notes of 
the instrument, the following stanzas: 



A beautiful Scene, 83 

" No room for mirth or trifling here, 
For worldly hope, or worldly fear, 

If life so soon is gone ; 
If now the Judge is at the door, 
And all mankind must stand before 

The inexorable throne ! 

" No matter which my thoughts employ, 
A moment's misery or joy ; 

But ! when both shall end. 
Where shall I find my destined place ? 
Shall I my everlasting days 

With fiends, or angels spend ? 

" Nothing is worth a thought beneath, 
But how I may escape the death 

That never, never dies ; 
How make mine own election sure ; 
And, when I fail on earth, secure 

A mansion in the skies. 

** Jesus, vouchsafe a pitying ray ; 
Be thou my guide, be thou >my way 

To glorious happiness. 
Ah ! write the pardon on my heart, 
And whensoever I hence depart, 

Let me depart in peace." 

The minstrel ceased. The solemnity of eter- 
nity was upon that assembly. Without speaking 
they dispersed. The father wept aloud, and 
when left alone sought the counsel and prayers 
of his daughter for the salvation of his soul. 



84 The Christian Spirit. 

His soul was saved, and his great estate conse- 
crated to Christ. 

In the wisdom which selected that hymn for 
such an occasion, and the hallowed and sweet 
manner of its utterance, we have a full realiza- 
tion of all that is embraced in the Christian spirit 
under the trying circumstances named. And so 
the individual who, according to his best knowl- 
edge and judgment, does as God requires, no 
matter how placed, manifests a Christian spirit. 
The pious Fletcher would term it that recollected 
state of mind which guards the lips, controls the 
countenance, molds the expression, moves the 
limbs, girds the loins, and, in a word, brings into 
subserviency to Christ the demeanor, the walk, 
the habits, the very instincts of the being. 

Such a definition of the» Christian, spirit nullifies 
the notion that it is confined to the softer traits 
of the religious life. Christians are sometimes 
placed in circumstances in which rebuke, not for- 
giveness, exposure, not submission, are absolutely 
demanded. Meekness would be entirely out of 
place in a Christian knowingly related to another 
professor who was persisting in a course of hei- 
nous offense against virtue and decency. The 
spirit of abhorrence, or even of denunciation, is 
sometimes quite as much a Christian spirit as in 



Tlie Forgiving Spirit, 85 

other relations that of forbearance and long-suf- 
fering would be. 

But the public mind may not be as ready to 
pass favorable sentence upon a stern, harsh exhi- 
bition of character as upon a quiet, placable trait. 
And it must be remembered that the sterner 
traits of Christianity are always to be tempered 
with the gentler. The Christian must bear about 
with him the spirit of the Lord Jesus, who, when 
he was reviled, reviled not again, in the same ap- 
propriate way as when, on another occasion, he 
drove the traders from the temple and overthrew 
the tables of the money-changers. 

It is said of a certain great religious leader tliat 
he once came in contact with the wealthy pro- 
prietor of an estate who was in fearful rage at 
a slave standing before him and trembling on 
account of a sentence, the execution of which 
was to him far more dreadful than death. The 
distinguished man besought the slave-holder to 
forgive the wrong. " Never," was the haughty 
reply; "when I receive an injury I never forgive 
it." " Then," was the fitting reply, " I trust you 
yourself have never committed a sin or done a 
wrong." Like a sudden flash from the pyre of 
the last judgment these words shot to the heart 
of the angry man. A sinner like himself to 



86 The CHRisxiAisr Spirit. 

adopt the maxim never to forgive ! Conviction 
of his error seized upon him, and, with a subdued 
spirit, he pardoned the helpless offender, and 
apologized to his visitor. Who fails to recognize 
the Christian spirit in the wise and mild rebuke 
which was so effective and so richly deserved? 
Had it been worded less happily, or administered 
in an austere manner, no doubt the rich man's 
pride and combativeness would have been aroused 
and visited with redoubled fury upon the slave 
and contempt upon the reprover. 

Paul was in some respects a splendid example 
of the Christian spirit. He was prepared to be- 
come all things to all men if by any means he 
might save some. To the Philippian jailer he was 
a son of consolation, but to the Roman governor 
a son of thunder. In the one case he was quick 
to sympathize and direct in the way of peace; in 
the other bold to denounce and even to expose 
reasoning with all the vehemence of his impetu- 
ous nature upon the very themes v>^hich cut 
Felix to the heart and lay bare his sins to the 
torture of his own quickened conscience. 

Melanchthon, amiable and gentle as he was, 
ishowed no more of the true Christian spirit than 
did Luther, who, like a stern warrior, resolved to 
drive pope and cardinals to the wall and liberate 



The Mind of Christ. 87 

the world from the thralldom of priestly assump- 
tion. The minister who rebukes sinners and tries 
unruly members may not be as calmly judged as 
the one who lets the deluded sleep on to their 
own destruction, but in the sight of God he 
shows more of the Christian spirit. Every true 
reformer exposes himself to harsh judgment, but 
he must be prepared to say with Paul, " With me 
it is a small matter that I should be judged of 
you, or of man's judgment; he that judgeth me 
is the Lord." 

Our blessed Lord himself was accused of hav- 
ing "a devil" — an unchristian spirit — and it is 
enough that the servant be as his Lord. But let 
us not be misunderstood. A spirit of censorious- 
ness, agitation, harshness, and so forth, may be 
decidedly unchristian. We need to be wise as 
serpents and harmless as doves. It is the bane 
of some that they confound the most solemn dis- 
tinctions, and lack in a culpable degree the fac- 
ulty of discernment. We should study the mind 
of Christ and keep before us the truth that while 
severity or indignation may sometimes be appio- 
priately conspicuous, yet it will ever be surrounded 
with "a galaxy of heavenly virtues, in whose 
sweet light it will appear a vastly different 
thing from that bitter severity or fierce indig- 



88 The Christian Spirit. 

nation with wliicli the mere moralist castigates 



.^<. 



The psalmist prayed, " Renew a right spirit 
within me." The Christian spirit is a right spirit. 
Its characteristics have been delineated as, first, a 
spirit of supreme love to God and universal love 
to man. It implies the absence of all revenge, 
hatred, or enmity toward any creature. A right 
spirit is a humble spirit, inclined to misgiving 
and self-distrust. It is a tender spirit, always 
ready to feel for others, and prompt to bestow 
aid. A right spirit is a cheerful, hopeful spirit, 
that never yields to doubt or despondency. It 
is resigned to the will of God and complacent in 
all Ills dealings. It is benevolent and generous in 
the use of temporal means, but at the same time 
provident and prudent in all temporal interests. 
A right spirit is devout and watchful and full of 
solicitude for the salvation of men. It is a spirit 
of contentment, rejoicing in the blessings of a 
beneficent Providence, meek under reproaches, 
and patient under all afflictions and trials. The 
power of a right spirit is beyond conception. It 
impresses all who come in contact with it. A man 
may resist argument and disdain reproof, but a 
right spirit will finally subdue the hardest heart.* 
* Rev. J. M. Arnold, D.D. 



Christian Unity. 89 

The Christian spirit is a right spirit in relation 
to the Church. It recognizes the Church as a di- 
vinely established means for propagating truth 
and spreading righteousness abroad. It identi- 
fies itself with the Church, is zealous for the 
honor of the Church, and does all within its 
power to sustain the Church in her enterprises. 

By the Church, we mean any truly evangelical 
Church, or the general spirit of them all. We 
institute no plea for sectarian amalgamation. 
No doubt there are too many denominations. 
No use of a separate Church for every human 
whim. No reason, for instance, why there 
should be in this country a half dozen Methodist 
bodies, different sects of Baptists, and several 
Presbyterian branches. A measure of consolida- 
tion would be a boon. But society requires the 
characteristic features of several denominations. 
Something of variety is God's order in grace as 
well as in nature. A trinity in unity is the es- 
sential nature of the Godhead. And this is pre- 
cisely the idea Jesus intended to convey when he 
prayed, "That they all may be one; as thou, Fa- 
ther, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may 
be one in us: that the world may believe that thou 
hast sent me." John xvii, 21. It is a perversion 
of Scripture to make this passage imply a consoli- 



90 The Christiak Spirit. 

dation of all the Churches. Jamieson, Fausset, 
and Browiij in their notes, say : " The unity of 
Christ's disciples must be something that shall be 
visible or perceptible to the world. What is it, 
then ? Not certainly a merely formal, mechan- 
ical unity of ecclesiastical machinery. For as 
that m.ay, and to a large extent does, exist in 
both the Western and Eastern Churches, with 
little of the Spirit of Christ — yea, much, much 
with which the Spirit of Christ cannot dwell — so, 
instead of convincing the world beyond its own 
pale of the divinity of the Gospel, it generates 
infidelity to a large extent within its own bosom. 
But the Spirit of Christ, illuminating, transform- 
ing, and reigning in the hearts of the genuine 
disciples of Christ, drawing them to each other 
as members of one family, and prompting them 
to loving co-operation for the good of the world — 
this is what, when sufficiently glowing and ex- 
tended, shall force conviction upon the world 
that Christianity is divine. Doubtless, the more 
that differences among Christians disappear — the 
more they can agree even in minor matters — the 
impression upon the v/orld may be expected to 
be greater. But it is not dependent upon this; 
for living and loving oneness in Christ is some- 
times more touching] y seen ev(^n amid and in 



True Catholic Affection. 91 

spite of minor differences than where no such, 
differences exist to try the strength of their 
deeper unity. Yet till this living brotherhood in 
Christ shall show itself strong enough to destroy 
the sectarianism, selfishness, carnality, and apathy 
that eat out the heart of Christianity in all the . 
visible sections of it, in vain shall we expect the 
Avorld to be overawed by it. It is when Hhe 
Spirit shall be poured upon us from on high,' as 
a Spirit of truth and love, and upon all parts of 
the Christian territory alike, melting down dif- 
ferences and heart-burnings, kindling astonish- 
ment and shame at past unfruitfulness, drawing 
forth longings of catholic affection, and yearning 
over a world lying in wickedness, embodying 
themselves in palpable forms and active meas- 
ures — it is then that we may expect the effect 
here announced to be produced, and then it will 
be irresistible. Should not Christians ponder 
these things ? Should not the same mind be in 
them which was also in Christ Jesus about this 
matter ? Should not his prayer be theirs ? " 

Dr. Whedon rightfully observes that already 
" amid every diversity there is among true Chris- 
tians a true unity." ^' The attempt has been 
made to bring the Christian body under one 
human head — the pope — and what has been the 



92 The Christian Spirit. 

result? The head became ambitious, corrupt, 
despotic, infidel, and bloody. This was substi- 
tuting for God's unity of the Spirit man's unity 
of temporal power." 

The spiritual unity of evangelical denomina- 
tions grows stronger every year. Sectarian dif- 
ferences that have long hindered universal Chris- 
tian fellowship are rapidly sinking out of sight. 
While they may not entirely disappear in one 
generation, they will, we trust, get out of the 
way of such an exhibition of world-wide Chris- 
tian love and endeavor that the unregenerated 
every- where will feel most powerfully the saving 
presence of Christ in the Churches. 

It would be a wise measure if the several de- 
nominations would appoint a commission to de- 
termine what principles shall obtain among local 
churches, especially in newer towns and city 
suburbs, as to the occupancy of territory and the 
organization of societies. These matters rarely 
amicably adjust themselves. There must be 
some way of solving the perplexing problems. 

Proselytism is a practice that should now, 
henceforth, and forever cease. It is of the spirit 
of the devil, not of Christ. Proselyters are 
blind. They see not that Christ's cause gains 
absolutely nothing by their efforts, however sue- 



Christian Spirit in delation to the World, 93 

cessful, but often suffers irreparable loss. There 
is not one spark of the true Christian spirit in a 
proselyting preacher. He is a wolf in sheep's 
clothing. 

The Christian spirit is a right spirit in relation 
to the world. It recognizes what is good in man, 
what is desirable in life, and what is worth effort 
to accomplish or possess. It uses the world as 
not abusing it. It does not withdraw from it 
because it is wicked, but stays in it to work for 
it and make it better. It does not despair of the 
world because it persists in sin and in rejecting 
Christ, but endeavors to show it a more excellent 
way, and to prevail upon it to be reconciled to 
God. It does not proclaim religion as a penance^ 
something simply to be endured in reference to 
future enjoyment, but practically illustrates how 
religion is to be enjoyed now, the happiest life to 
live, and the sweetest death to die. True relig- 
ion is joyous, and is best manifested by a joyous 
spirit. When Philip preached Christ in Samaria 
there was '^ great joy in that city." 

Sour complaints and long faces are no elements 
of genuine Christianity. They are of the earth, 
earthy. Yet we are told that Jesus never 
laughed. This is probably an inference drawn 
from the Bible statement that he " wept." The 



94 The Christian Spirit. 

mission of Jesus to earth was grave indeed. 
Knowing what was in man, and conscious of 
the bloody baptism awaiting him when he had 
accomplished the work given him to do, it is 
not strange that a tinge of sadness is found in 
his utterances and in the record of his life. 
But we believe that Jesus often smiled. He 
blessed his fond mother by his innocent glee 
when an infant in her arms. In his boyhood, 
though thoughtful and pure, he grew in favor 
with many a charmed circle. In manhood he 
was pleasant while profound, and gentle while 
severe. He often told his followers to rejoice. 
Martyrs have sung and laughed while the flames 
consumed their bodies; so he who was led as a 
lamb to the slaughter felt the movings of an in- 
ward joy, the joy that was set before him while 
he endured the cross. Like unto his is the 
spirit of the Christian. It is never frivolous or 
trifling, but is always pleasant aud deeply in 
earnest. It sees for fallen man but one hope, 
and proclaims that that hope once lost is lost for- 
ever, but, laid hold upon, it proves the soul's sure 
anchor, entering into that within the veil. 



Confldeiiee in God DeUghtful. 95 



VII. 
UNFALTERING TRUST. 

T\TO state of mind is more delightful than that 
^„i of entire confidence in the providence of 
God. It gives contentment to the mind, repose 
to the spirit, and satisfaction to the heart. When 
we sleep an Eye that never slumbers watches 
over us. When we wake an ever-present Spirit 
marks our pathway. In time of need a divine 
Hand supplies our wants. In temptation he suc- 
cors us, and in trial he sympathizes with us, and 
sends such relief as is for our good. In all God's 
dealings and ways the trusting soul is led to re- 
joice. "It will be such weather as pleases me 
to-morrow," said the Shepherd of Salisbury Plain, 
"because it will be such weather as pleases 
God." 

Cecil pondered over the reverent expression of 
Rutherford, " I lay my head to rest on the bosom 
of Omnipotence," and declared that while he, 
could keep such a thought uppermost in his 
mind it would always be a fine day whether it 
rained, hailed, or shone. 



96 Unfaltering Tkust. 

" holy trust ! endless sense of rest ! 

Like the beloved John 
To lay his head upon the Saviour's breast, 

And thus to journey on." 

"I have long seemed to be leaning on God 
alone, with no earthly prop to sustain me/' wrote 
a devoted young Christian lady, whose hold on 
the world had been loosened by suffering, and 
whose experience had taught her that the earthly 
and temporal are very uncertain. " If, in his wis- 
dom," she continued, "he raises up one and an- 
other to comfort and support, it is he that does 
it, so that I still lean on him alone. The Lord 
grant that it may ever be thus. I would live in 
no other way if I could than by faith, daily faith 
in God; nor receive any blessing or comfort or 
favor that I could not directly trace to him as 
bestowed in answer to prayer. It is a blessed 
way to live. Strange that I could not have 
found it out before. But we are stupid to learn 
what is for our own best interest, and probably 
I should not had it not been beaten into me by 
the rod — a rod of love. Yet since I have in 
some measure learned the lesson, I have longed 
that others should learn it also — those who have 
known something of God, and those who have 
not; to cast all care on the Lord, believing that 



Trusting God in Affliction. 97 

he cares for us, and is infinitely more concerned 
for our happiness than we ourselves. O my heart 
breaks when I think how we have overlooked this 
thing — that God does care for us, and is striving 
to promote our happiness in every possible way, 
yet we have not believed it, and have therefore 
taken it into our hands to secure it, as though 
infinite wisdom and benevolence and power could 
not and would not secure it better than ourselves. 
O fools, and slow of heart to believe! My broth- 
ers, can you believe this truth ? and will you from 
this time leave yourselves and all you have with 
God, and, seeking to know and do his will, let 
him take care of your interests and your happi- 
ness? Be assured that he will; and, indeed, in 
no other way can they be secured, for he that 
seeketh his life shall lose it, and he that loseth it 
for Christ's sake the same shall find it." 

Dr. Henry A. Reynolds, the celebrated "Red 
Ribbon" reformer, writing in view of a recent 
severe affiiction, makes known the source of his 
support in these words, "I believe that were it 
not for the unbounded confidence I have that 
God knows what is best for me, I should be an 



God knows what is best for every human being, 

but unhappily only a few learn this blessed truth, 

7 



98 Unfaltering Teust. 

and anchor themselves and all their interests 
to it. 

We are inclined to believe, with Rev. Dr. O. 
H. Warren, that to many believers "the sweet 
surrender of earthly things to the care of their 
Lord is more difficult than to trust him with their 
more precious spiritual interests. They have 
learned to commit their souls to the keeping of 
his loving heart with an undoubting confidence; 
but when they look at their present temporal 
needs, the claims of their dependent loved ones, 
the uncertainties of business, the probability of 
sickness or disability, and the bitterness of possi- 
ble poverty, they become a prey to that gnawing- 
anxiety, which is worse than most of the evils 
they apprehend. They invite care, that hateful 
bird of evil omen, to perch on the desks of their 
counting-rooms, and even on the gas-brackets in 
their chambers. They gaze so intently on the 
visage of this disgusting bird that they fail to 
hear the sweet voice of the Master earnestly 
whispering, 'Your heavenly Father knoweth that 
ye have need of these things ... all these things 
shall be added unto you. Take therefore no 
[anxious] thought for the morrow.' Would they 
give believing heed to these whispers they would 
speedily drive care out of their windows and feel 



Trusting God in Temporalities, 99 

as sure that Christ cares for their earthly well- 
being as they do that he will keep their souls 
safe from the power of the evil one." 

How inconsistent with the belief that God sus- 
tains to us the endearing relation of Father and 
Benefactor is this slavery to carking care. Do 
we not belie our profession and incur the guilt 
of sinful distrust when we worry over business 
affairs and temporal engagements, which, at long- 
est, can be ours but for a brief period, and which 
are ours only for practical usefulness ? " Be anx- 
ious for nothing," for food, drink, and raiment, 
or any earthly interest, however dear. 

This is far from suggesting that we are not to 
engage in earthly work at all, nor do our part in 
caring for our bodies. It is worse than infidelity 
not to look after our own. Diligence in business 
is quite as much enjoined as fervency of spirit in 
the Lord's service. The point is that all our 
service should be the Lord's, and in it we are 
diligently to exercise our powers. God gave us our 
bodies as well as our souls, and he is pleased to 
have us moderately feed the one that we may 
work out the salvation of the other. Work and 
worry are very different things. 

Men are sometimes placed in situations in 
which strong confidence in God is their only 



100 Unfaltering Trust. 

stay. They are beyond the reach of human 
help, yet, if they accomplish their mission, they 
must stand their groimd and battle on, however 
the victory seems for the time being to turn. 

'^ Permit us to labor on in obscurity, and in 
twenty years you may hear from us again," was 
the report of the pious Judson to the American 
Churches after several years of apparently fruit- 
less missionary labor in Burmah. " Do you think 
the prospects bright for the conversion of the 
heathen ? " was asked of him. " As bright," re- 
plied the confiding servant of Christ, " as bright 
as the promises of God." It was just such a 
spirit of strong confidence in God which led David 
to exclaim, "I have set thy law always before 
me; because he is at my right hand I shall not 
be moved." "He only is my rock and my sal- 
vation: he is my defense, I shall not be greatly 
moved." The good man, doing his Maker's will, 
knows no discouragements nor fears. He 

*' lays his hand upon the sky, 
Then bids earth roll, nor heeds her idle whirl." 

He trusts in God because he has an enlightened 
conception of the greatness and goodness of the 
divine character. He recognizes in God pre-emi- 
nent ability and disposition to protect and defend 



Examples of Trust. 101 

him, to guide him aright, and to give him a 
proper measure of success. In his every-day life 
and work he does not look upon God as afar off. 
He knows that he is nigh, even in the heart. He 
is never less alone than when, in his closet, he 
feels the presence of the Father, Son, and Holy 
Ghost, sweetly in their various oJfBces drawing 
him into more perfect fellowship and richer com- 
munion. He studies the Bible and hears the di- 
vine voice in the inspired page, saying, "The 
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and 
they are life." He drinks in the spirit of the 
book. To him all its truths are real, and deeply 
felt. Looking up, he exclaims with one of old, 
" Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might 
not sin against thee." " O how I love thy law: it 
is my meditation all the day." 

In times of trouble and sorrow his trust is un- 
shaken. Bowing submissively to the stroke, he 
acknowledges the authority of the Hand that 
smites. He knows there is no other ground of 
consolation. His spirit and language are: 

*' Thou art, Lord, my only trust, 
When friends are mingled with the dust, 

And all my loves are gone. 
When earth has nothing to besto\7, 
And every flower is dead below, 

I look to thee alone. 



102 Unfaltering Teust. 

" Thou wilt not leave, in doubt and fear, 
The humble soul who loves to hear 

The lessons of thy word. 
When foes around us thickly press, 
And all is danger and distress, 

There's safety in the Lord. 

" The bosom friend may sleep below 
The church-yard turf, and we may go 

To close a loved one's eyes : 
They will not always slumber there ; 
We see a world more bright and fair, 

A home beyond the skies. 

*' 'Tis thou, Lord, who shield'st my head, 
And draw'st thy curtains round my bed ; 

I sleep secure in thee. 
And, 0, may soon that time arrive. 
When we before thy face shall live. 

Through all eternity." — Percival. 

Pleasant and delightful, indeed, is such a spirit 
of continued commerce with God, according to 
the league and covenant struck with him. 

" To be a friend of God, an associate of the 
Most High, a domestic, no more a stranger, a 
foreigner, but of his own household ; to live 
wholly upon the plentiful provisions, and under 
the happy order and government of his family; 
to have a heart to seek all from him, and lay out 
all for him. How great is the pleasure of trust, 
of living free from care; that is, of any thing but 



Tlie Friend of God. 103 

how to please and honor him in a cheerful and 
unsolicitous dependence, expecting from him our 
daily bread, believing that he will not let our 
souls famish; that while they hunger and thirst 
after righteousness, they shall be filled; that they 
shall be sustained with the bread and water of 
life; that when they hunger he will feed them 
with hidden manna, and with the fruits that grow 
on the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of 
God; that when they thirst he will give water, 
and add milk and honey without money and with- 
out price; and for the body, not to doubt that he 
that feeds ravens and clothes lilies will feed and 
clothe them. To be so taken up in seeking his 
kingdom and righteousness, as freely to leave it 
to him to add the other things as he sees fit — to 
take no thought for the morrow — to have a heart 
framed herein according to divine precept; not 
to be encumbered or kept in anxious suspense by 
the thoughts or fears of what may fall out, by 
which many suffer the same affliction a thousand 
times over, which God would have them suffer 
but once — a firm repose on the goodness of provi- 
dence, and its firm and unerring wisdom; a steady 
persuasion that our heavenly Father knows what 
we have need of, and what is fittest for us to 
want, to suffer, or enjoy. How delightful a life 



104 Unfalteking Teust. 

do these make ! and how agreeable to one born 
of God, his own son, and heir of all things, as 
being joint heirs with Christ, and claiming by 
that large grant that says *all things are yours,' 
only that in minority it is better to have a wise 
Father's allowance than to be your own carvers." 
— Howe. 

Such a spirit implies a deep sense of depend- 
ence on God, and little or no dependence on any 
other source of defense and consolation. It sees 
how full the Divine hand is of blessing, how far 
extended the Divine arm is to save. It recognizes 
human weakness, ignorance, and unfaithfulness. 
It perceives the truth of Christ's own Avords: "He 
that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bring- 
eth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do 
nothing." We must go directly to God, and 
there abide, deriving from him pardon, peace, 
sanctification, redemption, and the entire support 
of our spiritual life. In him we have a fountain 
always full. 

*' Its streams the whole creation reach, 

So plenteous is the store ; 
Enough for all, enough for each, 

Enough for evermore." 

In the trusting heart religion becomes a deep 
stream, always flowing, and whose current is 



Living Water. 105 

peaceful and strong. The channel is always full, 
because an exhaustless fountain feeds it. God is 
the source of its supply, and the stream partakes 
of his purity and unchangeableness. It is not at 
one time a destructive torrent, and at another a 
stagnant pool. It is permanent life and perpetual 
blessing. It is a complete fulfillment of the prom- 
ise, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I 
shall give him shall never thirst; but the water 
that I shall give him shall be in him a well of 
water springing up into everlasting life." "The 
Spirit of God descends into the heart, and sup- 
ports the spiritual life, much as the dews and 
rains of heaven support vegetable life." The 
trusting heart drinks in this Holy Spirit. It is 
baptized with it. The Spirit is the source of all 
its sweet peace, its holy joy, its exulting emotions, 
its practical godliness. It does not depend on 
outward impulses, on external causes. It lives 
directly on God, and draws from him all its holy 
energy, its vital principle, its living, moving 
power. 

For every individual there exist fountains of 
exhaustless blessedness in God, but they are 
fountains sealed until confiding trust brings the 
soul near to them, and pure love begins to flow 
out from his own heart toward all beings in need 



106 Unfalteei-n-g Tkust. 

of sympatliy and capable of happiness. Then 
these fountains are opened, and, uniting in their 
flow, the river of life pours its broad streams irito 
the soul. The desert place is thus made glad. 
The flowers of hope spring up, and the fruits of 
the Spirit abound. Somebody has said that it is 
better to be in hell with love, than to be in 
heaven without it. It is better to be in trouble 
and danger and suffering, with confidence in God, 
than to be in carnal happiness and security with- 
out it. 

"I remember," says Rev. Dr. C. H. Fowler, 
*' standing by the surging billows all one weary 
day, and watching for hours a father struggling 
beyond in the breakers for the life of his son. 
They came slowly toward the shore on a piece of 
wreck, and as they came, the waves turned over 
the piece of float, and they were lost to view. 
Suddenly we saw the father come to the surface 
and clamber alone to the wreck, and then saw 
him plunge off into the waves, and thought he 
was gone ; but in a moment he came back bring- 
ing his boy. Presently they struck another wave, 
and over they went; and again repeated the proc- 
ess. Again they went over, and again the father 
rescued his son. By and by, as they swung nearer 
the land, they caught on a snag, just out beyond 



" That's My Boy:' 107 

where we could reach them, and for a little time 
the waves went over them till we saw the boy in 
the father's arms, hanging down in helplessness, 
and knew they must be saved soon or be lost. I 
shall never forget the gaze of that father. As we 
drew him from the devouring waves, still cling- 
ing to his son, he said, 'That's my boy ! that's my 
boy ! ' And so I have thought, in the hours of 
darkness, when the billows roll over me, the great 
Father reaching down to me, and taking hold of 
me, crying, ' That's my boy ! ' and I know I am 
safe." 

God loves the tinisting heart, and the trusting 
heart loves God. They that dwell in love must, 
in every state and condition, dwell in God ; for 
God is love. 



108 Spiritual Vision. 



YIII. 
SPIRITUAL VISION. 

IT is a mistake for the irreligious man to sup- 
pose that he understands religion. A hea- 
then in the jungles of Africa might as well think 
that he is acquainted with civilization. Looke 
tells of a blind man who thought that the color 
of scarlet was like the sound of a bell. The blind 
man was not a fool, but there was a serious defect 
in his eye. Had he possessed the power of vision, 
and used it rightly, he would have reached a cor- 
rect conclusion. 

The unregenerate are incompetent to pass judg- 
ment upon religious truth and life. They have 
never had their eyes opened. Without being des- 
titute of the power of vision, " their eyes they have 
closed; lest . . . they should see with their eyes, 
and . . . understand with their heart." They have 
never perceived and felt the truth. They seeing 
see not, and it is not given unto them to know 
the mysteries of the spiritual kingdom. What- 
ever strength of mind they may have, they are 
disqualified to judge respecting evangelical relig- 



Natural Man is in DarJcness, 109 

ion, for they know nothing about it. The truth 
is, the natural man, no matter how high his place 
in the world's intellectual enlightenment, is but 
half developed, The things of the Spirit, which 
constitute more than half of the richest experi- 
ences of a perfected human life, all lie beyond his 
ken. The great apostle affirmed that " the natural 
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of 
God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither 
can he know them, because they are spiritually 
discerned." The Christian has an unmistakable 
realization of a world of truth and life, which is 
as completely hidden from the unsaved as are the 
magnificent scientific developments of our own 
age and land to the untutored savage in his hut 
of ice amid the polar seas. 

The prophet Elisha was once surrounded by 
the Syrian army, sent on purpose to take him. 
To human appearance there was no way of es- 
cape. His servant was alarmed, and exclaimed, 
" Alas, my master ! how shall we do ? . . . And 
Elisha prayed, and said. Lord, I pray thee, open 
his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened 
the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, be- 
hold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots 
of fire round about Elisha." 

The "horses and chariots of fire" were there 



110 Spiritual Visiok. 

as really before the eyes of the young man were 
opened as afterward. The reason of his alarm 
was that he could not see them. His eyes were 
closed. It is even so still. The natural man is 
in darkness, and sees no light. He may look into 
the Bible, but in this state of mind he does not 
comprehend its meaning. It is a sealed book. 
It finds no response or welcome in his soul. 

" Where, think you," inquires M'Masters, " did 
John Bunyan get his marvelous insight into the 
meaning of God's word ? Not from learning, for 
he had little; not from his books, for he had few; 
but from his heart. It was full of eyes." 

In like manner the natural man hears Chris- 
tians describe their peace and joy, but he finds 
nothing answering to them in his own experience, 
and concludes that they must be untrue. He 
lacks spiritual discernment. He needs the touch 
of the divine hand upon his heart to open it 
to the perception and reception of the salvation 
which is in Christ Jesus. He needs a glimpse of 
the revealing light of faith, about which Charles 
Wesley wrote: 

" To him that in thy name believes, 

Eternal life with thee is given ; 
Into himself he all receives, 

Pardon, and holiness, and heaven. 



Mevealing Light of Faith. Ill 

" The things unknown to feeble sense, 
Unseen by reason's glimmering ray, 

With strong, commanding evidence, 
Their heavenly origin display. 

" Faith lends its realizing light ; 

The clouds disperse, the shadows fly ; 
The Invisible appears in sight, 

And God is seen by mortal eye.'* 

This spiritual eye-sight needs further develop- 
ment in many of us who call Jesus our Master. 
It would make clear certain things which now 
seem strange, and perhaps impossible. Wonder- 
ful are some of the seasons of visitation from the 
presence of the Lord enjoyed by the true and 
holy. Better than the sight on the mountain top 
of the " horses and chariots of fire round about 
Elisha " are the spiritual glories which God's fa- 
vored children have beheld in the very sunlight 
of his countenance. 

*' I well remember on one occasion," says Will- 
iam Carvosso, " while paying a visit to my Cam- 
borne friends, I was one night in bed, so filled, so 
overpowered v/ith the glory of God, that, had 
there been a thousand suns shining at noonday, 
the brightness of that divine glory would have 
eclipsed the whole. I was constrained to shout 
aloud for joy. It was the overwhelming power 



112 Spiritual Vision. 

of saying grace. Now it was that I again re- 
ceived the impress of the seal and the earnest of 
the Spirit in my heart. ^ Beholding as in a glass 
the glory of the Lord/ I was 'changed into the 
same image from glory to glory,' ' by the Spirit of 
the Lord.' Language fails in giving but a faint 
description of what I then experienced. I can 
never forget it in time nor to all eternity. Many 
years before, perhaps not fewer than thirty, I was 
sealed by the Spirit in a somewhat similar man- 
ner. While walking one day between Mousehole 
and Newlyn I was drawn to turn aside from the 
public road, and, under the canopy of heaven, 
kneel down to prayer. I had not long been en- 
gaged with God before I was so visited from 
above, and overpowered by the divine glory, that 
my shouting could be heard at a distance. It 
was a weight of glory which I seemed incapable 
of bearing in the body, and therefore cried out, 
(perhaps unwisely,) 'Lord, stay thine hand.' In 
this glorious baptism these words came to my 
heart with indescribable power, ' I have sealed 
thee unto the day of redemption.' 

" Giving glory to my God I can say to the 
present moment, I feel the blood of Jesus Christ 
cleanseth me from all sin. I am become a living 
temple, glorious all within. I can now love God 



Pay soil's Exjperience, 113 

with all my heart, with all my mind, and with all 
my strength. My inward heaven of joy and 
peace was, I think, never so great as of late. O 
Lord, help me to make some suitable return of 
love and gratitude! O stupendous redeeming 
grace ! Feelingly can I sing this verse : 

" ' Love, thou bottomless abyss, 
My sins are swallowed up in thee ! 

Covered is my unrighteousness, 
Nor spot of guilt remains on me, 

"While Jesus' blood, through earth and skies, 

Mercy, free, boundless mercy, cries.' " 

Rev. Edward Payson, when enjoying that re- 
markable manifestation of the Divine Presence 
which characterized his last days, during one of 
his conversations repeated this verse : " Thy sun 
shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon 
withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine ever- 
lasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall 
be ended." Turning to a young lady present he 
said, " Do you not think this is worth traveling 
over many high hills and difficult places to ob- 
tain? Give my love to my friends in Boston; 
tell them all I ever said in praise of God or re- 
ligion falls infinitely below the truth." Again he 
said, " I seem to swim in a flood of glory which 
God pours down upon me. And I know, I know 



114 Spiritual Visioj^. 

that my happiness is but begun; I cannot doubt 
that it will last forever. And now is this all a de- 
lusion ? Is it a delusion which can fill the soul to 
overflowing with joy under such circumstances ? 
If so, it is surely a delusion better than any real- 
ity. But no, it is not a delusion; I feel that it is 
not. I do not merely know that I shall enjoy all 
this, I enjoy it now." 

This is reality. This is bliss ineffable. It is 
the everlasting light of the Lord beaming upon 
the pathway of his child, like the silver light of 
an unclouded moon by night or the radiant glory 
of the sun by day. 

" With bodily eyes, indeed," remarks a discern- 
ing writer, "no man ever has seen or ever can see 
God; but with the sight, the hearing, the sensi- 
bility, the capacity of a moral and immortal 
nature which has received Jehovah's image, he is 
apprehended. 'Mine eyes have seen the King 
Jehovah.' For that very purpose was the like- 
ness to God originally imparted, for that is it 
now restored. That our first parents might know 
God, might commune with him, might talk to 
him, walk with him, dwell with him, enjoy the 
rapture of his presence and friendship, and pre- 
pare in this probationary life for an immortal fel- 
lowship with him, were they created and placed 



How God is See7i. 115 

in Eden. By the sufficient sacrifice, righteous- 
ness, and merit of the Son of God we regain the 
lost image with all its privileges. Does not our 
Lord distinctly teach that the very purpose of 
our wondrous moral and immortal nature is to 
know God both in time and eternity ? ^ This 
is life eternal, that they might know thee the 
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast 
sent.' 

" Sin's debauchery of the soul's powers and char- 
acter, with the subsequent persistent culture of un- 
belief, makes us to become oblivious of Deity; we 
are as blind, obstinate, practical atheists. But the 
faith-faculties of a God-given spirit-life, which 
is in character like unto his own, introduce us 
into his kingdom, into the realm of his presence 
and glory, into the domain of his special person- 
ality, his law, and his love. We behold him as 
God, the Creator, the Source of life, the Ruler, 
the Benefactor, the Father, the Redeemer, the 
Guide, the Friend, the Comforter, the Helper — 
the All and in All." 

" None but the Spirit of God," says Spurgeon, 
" can reveal God to any man, and the man himself 
must receive a new and spiritual life before he 
can know what the Spirit teaches." Who, then, 
among the worldly-wise may dream of under- 



116 Spiritual Vision. 

standing God, when even the spiritual rather em- 
brace him by love than grasp him by understand- 
ing ? What is wanted is not an audible voice of 
God to confirm the evidences of our religion, but 
the touch and the voice of Christ to make us con- 
scious within ourselves of the power of him to 
whom God bears witness. Not external but in- 
ternal evidences are what we need. The best 
evidences in the world are what we call experi- 
mental, such as grow out of actual experience. 
It is a better thing for a man to live near to 
Christ, and to enjoy his presence, than it would 
be for him to be overshadowed with a bright 
cloud, and to hear the divine Father himself 
speaking out of it. The voice out of the cloud 
would but dismay and distract ; the voice of 
Christ would cheer and comfort, and at the same 
time would be an equally powerful assurance to 
us of the divinity of the whole matter. 

"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall 
see God." How can it be when Moses, hid in the 
cleft of the rock, could not see God's face and 
live? How can it be when Isaiah and Manoah 
said, "We shall die, for we have seen him face 
to face ! " Yet here is the promise. It must be 
so. But how ? Let Rev. Emory J. Haynes give 
his reply: 



Mozart and his JbViend, 117 

" Mozart and his friend, the royal huntsman, 
went forth arm in arm to the fields. The wind 
came up heavily through the copse of trees. 
' Look ! ' says the hunter; ' it will startle a hare ! ' 
'Listen!' says Mozart; 'what a diapason from 
God's great organ ! ' A lark rose on soaring 
wing, with ics own sweet song. ' Look,' says the 
gamester; 'what a shot!' 'Ah,' says Mozart, 
' what would I give could I catch that thrill ! ' 
There be dull souls who cannot see nor hear. 
Are they sick ? ' O what misfortune ! ' Are they 
bereaved? 'Some enemy hath done this.' Are 
they well and prosperous? ' Good luck.' Not so. 
Pure heart. He can see God's hand in every 
sorrow chastening for good; God's face in every 
blessing; God's smile in the morning light, the 
blossoming harvest, and the evening shade. His 
heart is attuned. 

"It has been done. What? You went from 
the church-yard to your closet; alone you bowed; 
you wept; you were crushed; you prayed; you 
closed your eyes; there came sweet peace, for you 
saw — Jesus." 

It is this vision of the naturally invisible and 
this comprehension of the ordinarily incomjDre- 
hensible which gives to the man of God his sta- 
bility and unshaken fortitude. His faith stands 



118 Spiritual Vision. 

not in the wisdom of men, in what human 
thought has devised and human skill perfected, 
but in the power of God. Mortal terrors cannot 
intimidate him, for he is held above them by the 
immortal presence. Bodily temptations cannot 
overthrow him, because he is sustained by the 
power of an endless life. Only when he lets go 
of the high and holy things which God has re- 
vealed unto him by his Spirit has Satan power 
to destroy him. This explains why so many 
humble, trusting hearts continue in the good old 
way of the cross, notwithstanding the boasted 
advancement of modern thought and the new- 
fangled notions of popular aesthetics. They are 
out in deeper waters, and are borne by a stronger 
tide than that which underlies the splash and 
foam of current religious fashion. For them the 
Spirit is searching all things, yea, the deep things 
of God, They have not received the spirit of 
this world, but the Spirit from above, and they 
comprehend the good things so freely given by 
the divine hand. They compare not spiritual 
things with natural, whether they are exactly 
proportionate and pleasing, but spiritual things 
with spiritual, and are chiefly concerned whether 
they are making progress heavenward, and are 
knowing more and more of the mind of the Lord. 



A Source of Hapjnness. 119 

Being spiritual, they judge all things, yet are 
themselves judged of no man. They are not 
weighed in earthly balances nor measured by 
worldly standards. Nevertheless, in all that 
goes to constitute true happiness and real use- 
fulness, they are as far advanced as their more 
superficial, and especially particular, fellow pro- 
fessors. 

The power of discerning spiritual things is a 
fruitful source of happiness. It strengthens a 
hundred-fold the arguments for the being of 
God, the truth of the Bible, and the divinity of 
our holy religion. The evidence which skeptics 
reject as insufficient Christians accept as entirely 
satisfactory, because, added thereto, are the ex- 
periences of their own hearts, the intuitions of 
their own souls. It follows, therefore, and is 
true to fact, that those w^ho are most spiritual 
are least doubtful, or contrariwise, those who are 
most believing enter most largely into the com- 
forting experiences of a life hid with Christ in 
God. 

The nature, reality, and sanctifying power of 
these spiritual revelations ought to be better un- 
derstood among us. When such is the case, w^hen 
the truth that the Holy Ghost does make these 
persuasive inward impressions upon devout souls 



120 Spiritual Vision. 

shall be fully apprehended, when it shall have 
that place in the visions of faith which it always 
has occupied in the Gospel system, " all serious 
doubts respecting the practicability of living 
above the power of sin will be put to flight." 
This is the belief of one who was in a position to 
pass intelligent judgment. His words are so di 
rectly to the point that this chapter may fittingly 
close with them: 

"We have never met with a difficulty or ob- 
jection alleged against the doctrine of holiness 
which was not distinctly traceable to blindness, 
either speculative or practical, with regard to the 
revelations of Christ made to the soul by the 
Spirit. Some seem to have entirely dropped this 
vital truth out of their theology, while a much 
larger number appear to have had no experi- 
mental knowledge of its glorious import and 
transforming efficacy, and hence, while they hold 
it in theory, make it mean almost nothing. 
Many have this view of these revelations of 
Christ, that they are, when made at all, so mo- 
mentary and transient, that they can produce no 
permanent effect. 

"An eminent clergyman in the city of Bos- 
ton avowed to a brother who was preaching 
the doctrine of holiness in that city, that he 



Glimpses of Christ. 121 

sometimes had momentary glimpses of Christ, 
in the light of which it seemec? to him per- 
fectly practicable to live without sin; but in a 
second thick clouds swept over and shut out the 
vision. 

" This illustrates the idea which many have of 
these divine revelations or manifestations of 
Christ to the soul, namely, that they are alto- 
gether too transient and unfrequent to be relied 
upon in overcoming the world, the flesh, and the 
devil. 

"But why are they thought to be transient? 
Because they are in fact so to some who, like the 
minister referred to, expect no more, and would 
esteem it fanaticism to look for long-continued 
and oft-repeated manifestations. 

"If when the soul has a glimpse of Christ, it 
would consider that only a harbinger of coming 
light, and wait and expect and seek and cry 
aloud after the full revelations of Christ, it 
would soon realize the power of the Gospel. 
One of this character, a devoted minister, lately 
deceased, could testify that for years Jesus 
Christ had glowed down upon his soul with a 
light and glory, in comparison with which the 
light of the sun at noon was dim. These hasty 
glimpses, bright as they are, yet are as much 



122 Spikitual Visio]N". 

inferior to tlie radiance which Christ is ready- 
to pour continuously upon the soul, as a sud- 
den gleam of light, darting through the rifted 
clouds, is inferior to the blaze of the meridian 



Sanctification Attainable, 123 



IX. 

HOLINESS. 

WITHOUT entering into any doctrinal niceties 
on the subject of the higher life, and with- 
out opening any of the old controversies which 
have been fruitful of so many ill effects, let a few 
points be stated in the way of making the sub- 
ject clear. 

And first of all, we have no dispute with any 
body as to the degree of holiness possible to man. 
This may safely be left with the Bible itself, and 
with every studious mind and enlightened con- 
science. We desire only to point out the fact 
that the Scriptures designate a blessing to which 
justified Christians had not yet attained. Call it 
what you will, refer to it as a state, a life, or only 
a phase of experience, it is there, and to its en- 
joyment professors of religion are invited. 

Paul writes to the Thessalonians, "And the 
very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I 
pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be 
preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord 
Jesus Christ." 1 Thess. v, 23. That these Chris- 



124 Holiness. 

tians had already been justified appears from the 
account of their state of grace found in the first 
chapter of the epistle. That they had not at- 
tained the full blessing in store for them appears 
from the apostle's prayer. 

Again, Paul exhorts the Corinthian Christians, 
" Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, 
let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the 
flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of 
God." They were believers, then, being " dearly 
beloved " brethren. They had therefore been jus- 
tified, yet they needed complete cleansing. 

David acknowledged his transgressions and sin, 
and after praying that they might be blotted out, 
washed thoroughly away, he then besought the 
Lord to create within him a clean heart. Plenary 
pardon, observes Joseph Sutcliife, was only half 
his request. He solicited purity, and purity 
without a stain. It is a small glory for a man 
to boast that his body and his character are free 
from gross sins, while his mind secretly feasts on 
impurity. We must pray that sin may not mere ■ 
ly be cropped, but wholly eradicated, and the 
whole man, body, soul, and spirit, "preserved 
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ." The indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and 
the constant application of the Redeemer's merits 



What Sa7ictification Does JVbt. 125 

to keep ns clean, are the surest preservatives from 
future sins. 

Yet errors of thought and life will arise. Mis- 
takes in judgment will lead to mistakes in prac- 
tice, even in the most holy person, so that what 
is commonly known as "complete deliverance 
from sin " is deliverance only from wrong in mo- 
tive or intent, and is entirely subject to weak- 
nesses, infirmities, and mistakes. 

" In the realm of our personal nature," says Rev. 
Dr. Asbury Lowrey, "sanctification does much, but 
not in the way of eradication. Its office is two- 
fold. First, to expunge sin from every motion and 
impulse of the whole army of unreasoning propen- 
sities; second, to regulate, restrain, refine, and ex- 
alt all impulsive instincts. It does not extirpate 
or cripple a single constituent faculty. Nor does 
it blunt the sensibilities nor extinguish legitimate 
desire. The work of holiness in the empire of 
natural appetites and passions is to subjugate all 
to the absolute dominion of grace and keep all 
within the sphere of lawful indulgence." 

Here we wish to introduce the testimony of 
Bishop E. S. Janes. It is not in any way preten- 
tious or boastful, it makes use of no high-sound- 
ing phrases, but runs along so quietly and clearly, 
showing how his great soul was kept from sin. 



126 Holiness. 

and was clean in the sight of God^ that it may be 
regarded as a model of its kind. 

" I want to say," he declares, " that I am saved 
from sin through Jesus Christ; that I have an 
increasing nearness to God and a more intimate 
fellowship with him, a greater sense of his gra- 
cious presence with me continually, by day and 
by night. If I have a title to any thing it is in 
heaven; if I have a hold on any thing it is on 
heaven. I know my probation is drawing to its 
close. I have had great opportunities to serve 
my Lord and Master, and to do good service for 
him. I have a very solemn account to render. I 
appreciate it more and more, and yet, through 
God's great mercy in Jesus Christ, I meet it with- 
out fear, for I believe that all my imperfections 
of service and devotion are forgiven for Christ's 
sake, and that he is the Lord, my Righteousness, 
and that through his mercy I shall give up my 
account with joy, and enter into the presence 
and beatitude of God. Blessed be his name ! I 
awoke this morning with the hymn running 
through my mind which has in it this expression : 
' Rivers of delight.' The thought never arrested 
my attention before. 'Rivers of delight ! ' What 
an expression ! Celestial delight — rivers that 
never dry ! ' Who shall make them to drink of 



Bishop Janes^s Testimony. 127 

the river of thy pleasure, O Lord.' The pleasure 
of God — a river of God's pleasure. I awoke this 
morning with this passage in my mind : ' He 
brought me to his banqueting house, and his 
banner over me was love.' God's banquet — 
spiritual food. You have been sitting at this 
table of spiritual luxuries, of heavenly dainties, a 
long time. It is a royal banquet; none but God 
could furnish it. ^ His banner over me was love.' 
Not an ensign of authority, not an emblem of 
power, but a banner of love. Who but Jesus 
ever invited men to a standard he had stained 
with his life-blood ? ' I, if I be lifted up, will 
draw all men unto me.' The cross is his ensign. 
Following this banner, we shall find our latest foe 
under our feet at last." 

Nor is any state of enjoyment or efficiency at- 
tained this side of heaven, if indeed ever, beyond 
which growth and ascendency are no longer pos- 
sible. No one has expressed this thought in bet- 
ter language than Canon Liddon. 

" The spirit or soul of man," he says, " knows 
itself to be capable, I will not say of unlimited, 
but of continuous progress and development. 
However vigorous the tree or the animal may be, 
it soon reaches the point when it can grow no 
more. The time comes when the tree has borne 



128 Holiness. 

all the leaves and fruit and buds which it can 
bear, when its vital force is exhausted, and it is 
no more. The animal may have done its best, it 
may have reached a high condition of strength 
and beauty, but when its limit is reached it can 
grow no more. With the soul of man as a living 
and thinking power it is far otherwise; he has 
never exhausted himself. When the man of 
science has made some noble discovery, when the 
literary man has written a great book, when the 
statesman has carried a series of important meas- 
ures, we cannot say that he has exhausted him- 
self. The spiritual man is indeed dependent on 
the material man, and as the body moves on to- 
ward decay and dissolution it extends something 
of the influence of its weakness and incapacity to 
its spiritual companion ; but even then the soul 
resists this and asserts its separate existence; the 
mind of man knows that each separate effort, in- 
stead of exhausting his j)owers, tends to strength- 
en them, and so he will go on continually making 
larger and nobler and more vigorous efforts. So, 
too, is it with conscience and duty; with these 
there is no finality. One great act suggests an- 
other, one sacrifice makes another easier ; the virt- 
uous impulse in the soul is not like the growth 
in the tree, a self-exhausting force, but it is al- 



Testimony of Mrs, Prentiss. 129 

ways moving on, always advancing. 'Be not 
weary in well-doing ' — this is the language of the 
Eternal to the human will; but never is, ' Be not 
weary of grov/ing ' said to the tree or the animal, 
because organic matter differs from spirit in this, 
that it does reach the limit of its activity, and 
then it turns backward toward non-existence." 

With this view the experience of Mrs. Eliza- 
beth Prentiss coincides. 

" I believe," she says, " in growth in grace, but 
I also believe in, because I have experienced it, 
and find my experience in the word of God, a 
work of the Spirit subsequent to conversion, (not 
necessary in all cases, perhaps, but in all cases 
where Christian life begins and continues fee- 
bly,) which puts the soul into new conditions of 
growth." 

Here we have the suggestion that the soul only 
fairly begins its expansion when the light and 
love of God are poured out in full measure into 
its cleansed recesses, giving new vigor and fresh- 
ness to its consecrated powers. 

There is a constant reason for being holy in 
this life. 

" Man," says Dr. Emmons, " is endowed with 
rational and moral powers which render him capa- 
ble of holy exercises. He knows the difference 



130 Holiness. 

between holy and unholy exercises, and feels his 
moral obligation to exercise benevolent and pure 
affections toward all beings with whom he is con- 
cerned. This knowledge of duty lays him under 
obligation to do it. The obligation never ceases, 
and so he is constantly bound to fulfill it." 

The divine law enjoins holiness. It says to 
every one, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and 
with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; and 
thy neighbor as thyself." This law, which is 
founded in the nature of things, never has been, 
and never can be, abrogated. It binds Christians 
at all times, and requires them constantly to ex- 
ercise holy affections. It carries their duty as 
high as it can be carried, and as high as the duty 
of angels or the saints in light. They can do no 
more than love God with all their heart, and their 
fellow-creatures as themselves. The Gospel, as 
•well as the law, requires holiness. A multitude 
of precepts, prohibitions, and admonitions might 
be cited in proof. 

1. Those which require saints to do every thing 
from love to God. 

Paul, speaking to the saints in Corinth, says, 
^^ Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatso- 
ever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Again 



A Consta7it Reason for Holiness. 181 

he says to them, "Let all things be done with 
charity;" that is, with pure, holy love. And to 
the Colossians he says, " Above all these things 
put on charity, which is the bond of perf ectness. 
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in 
the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to 
God and the Father by him." And again he 
says, " Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as unto 
the Lord, and not unto men." These divine pre- 
cepts are universal and unlimited. 

2. Those which enjoin a spirit of worship and 
activity. 

Christians are required to ^' rejoice in the Lord 
always;" to "rejoice evermore;" to "pray with- 
out ceasing;" and to be "steadfast, unmoveable, 
always abounding in the work of the Lord." To 
his Christian brethren in Galatia Paul says, " If we 
live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." 

Peter, in his first epistle to Christians in general, 
says, "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, 
be sober and hope to the end for the grace that 
is to be brought unto you at the revelation of 
Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not fashion- 
ing yourselves according to the former lusts in 
your ignorance : but as he who hath called you 
is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversa- 
tion; because it is written. Be ye holy, for I am 



132 Holiness. 

holy." These precepts are exceedingly broad, 
and extend to every branch of a Christian's 
duty. 

3. Those which insist that the devil and all his 
evil suggestions shall be resisted. 

James says, " Resist the devil, and he will flee 
from you." Peter says, ^' Be sober, be vigilant; 
because your adversary the devil, as a roaring 
lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may de- 
vour : whom resist steadfast in the faith." 
" Wherefore," saith the apostle, " take unto you 
the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to 
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to 
stand." 

John says to them, "Love not the world, 
neither the things of the world. If any man 
love the world, the love of the Father is not in 
him." Paul tells them, " Be not conformed to 
this world; but be ye transformed by the renew- 
ing of your minds." And again he says, "Ab- 
stain from all appearance of evil." 

Christians are urged also to feel and act 
with benevolence and propriety toward enemies. 
Christ commands them to love their enemies, 
and bless those who curse them, and to do good 
to those that hate them. The apostle gives a 
similar exhortation: " Bless, and curse not." "Be 



The Bible Requires It, 133 

not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with 
good." 

4. Those which urge believers to put away, 
mortify, and subdue all sin. 

"The grace of God," says the apostle, "that 
bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 
teaching us that denying ungodliness and world- 
ly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and 
godly, in tliis present world." And Peter says, 
' Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, 
and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speak- 
ings, as new born babes, desire the sincere milk 
of the word, that ye may grow thereby." 

Paul says, "Abhor that which is evil; cleave to 
that which is good." Again he says, "Let not 
sin reign in your mortal body, that ye should 
obey it in the lusts thereof." And again he ex- 
horts the Ephesians to "put off concerning the 
former conversation the old man, which is cor- 
rupt according to the deceitful lusts;" and to 
" put on the new man, which after God is created 
in righteousness and true holiness." 

A persuasive plea for holy living might be 
grounded upon the teachings and practice of the 
whole Christian Church immediately subsequent 
to apostolic times. None who carefully read the 
writings of the primitive fathers can doubt that 



134 Holiness. 

tliis tlieme was prominent among them, received, 
as it no doubt was, from the hearts and lips of 
the apostles themselves. The number of such 
writers is limited, but their testimony is explicit. 

Clement, to whom Paul is supposed to refer in 
Phil, iv, 3, in his letters makes use of such ex- 
pressions as these: " Of Job it is written, That he 
was just and without blame, true; one that served 
God and abstained from all evil." " They who 
have been made perfect in love, have, by the 
grace of God, attained a place among the right- 
eous." He exhorts Christians to pray that they 
may be thus perfect, that so " they may live in 
charity; being unblamable, without human pro- 
pensities, without respect of persons." To the 
Corinthians he says, " Ye were sincere, and with- 
out offense toward each other." 

Barnabas, who, if not Paul's companion, was 
one of the same name living in the apostolic age, 
in the address to his epistle says to his readers, 
" I gave diligence to write in a few words, that 
together with your faith your knowledge might 
be perfect." Again, " But how does he dwell in 
us? The word of his faith, the calling of his 
promise, the wisdom of his righteous judgments, 
the commands of his doctrine: he himself proph- 
esies within us, he himself dwelleth in us, and 



Words of Ignatius, 135 

oi3eneth to us who were in bondage of death the 
gate of our temple; that is, the mouth of wis- 
dom, having given repentance unto us; and by 
this means has brought us to be an incorruptible 
temple." 

Ignatius, a disciple of the apostles, having been, 
it is said, in the year 67, constituted by the apos- 
tle John, pastor of the Church at Antioch, over 
which he presided upward of forty years, and 
then sealed his testimony to the truth by a mar- 
tyr's death, writing to the Church at Ephesus, 
gives utterance to the following beautiful words, 
the import of which cannot be mistaken: "Being 
followers of God, and stirring up yourselves by 
the blood of Christ, ye have perfectly accom- 
plished the work that was connatural to you." 
" They that are of the flesh cannot do the works 
of the Spirit, neither they that are of the Spirit 
the works of the flesh. As he that has faith can- 
not be an infidel; nor he that is an infidel have 
faith. But even those things that ye do accord- 
ing to the flesh are spiritual; forasmuch as ye do 
all things in Jesus Christ." "Ye are, therefore, 
with all your companions in the same journey, 
full of God ; his spiritual temples, full of Christ, 
full of holiness; adorned in all things with the 
commands of Christ. In whom also I rejoice 



136 Holiness. 

that I have been thought worthy by this present 
epistle to converse, and joy together with you; 
that with respect to the other life, ye love noth- 
ing but God only." "That so no herb of the 
devil may be found in you ; but ye remain in all 
holiness and sobriety both of body and spirit in 
Christ Jesus." " Of all which nothing is hid from 
you, if ye have perfect faith and charity in Christ 
Jesus, which are the beginning and end of life." 
*' No man professing a true faith sinneth ; neither 
does he who has charity hate any." 

In his epistle to another Church he observes, 
**For inasmuch as ye are perfect yourselves, ye 
ought to think those things that are perfect. 
For when ye are desirous to do well, God is ready 
to enable you thereunto." 

Polycarp, the disciple of John, in his epistle to 
the Christians at Philippi, uses this language: 
" Into which, (the epistle of Paul,) if you look, 
you will be able to edify yourselves in the faith 
that has been delivered unto you, which is the 
mother of us all; being followed with hope, and 
led on by a general love, both toward God and 
toward Christ and toward our neighbor. For if 
any man has these things he has fulfilled the law 
of righteousness; for he that has charity is far 
from all sin." 



Chrysostom Testifies. 137 

Chrysostom, "the golden-mouthed" bishop of 
Constantinople, who flourished in the fourth cent- 
ury, in his writings shows that the same spirit in 
respect to this doctrine which characterized the 
writings of the earlier fathers continued to floy/ 
right along in the Church. In his explanation of 
Gal. ii, 20, "I am crucified with Christ," etc., he 
says, ''By saying Christ liveth in me, he means 
nothing is done by me which Christ disapproves ; 
for as by death he signifies not what is commonly 
understood, but a death to sin ; so by life he sig- 
nifies a delivery from sin. For a man cannot 
live to God otherwise than by dying to sin; and 
as Christ suffered a bodily death, so does Paul a 
death to sin." 

Athanasius, who flourished a half century ear- 
lier than Chrysostom, of wide celebrity, a pillar 
in the Church, in whose memory a famous creed 
was named, decla^red that " the Son of God, made 
man for us, and having abolished death, and hav- 
ing liberated our race from the servitude of cor- 
ruption, hath, besides his other gifts, granted to 
us to have upon earth an image of the sanctity of 
angels, namely, virginity." " Nowhere, truly, ex- 
cept among Christians, is this holy and heavenly 
profession fully borne out or perfected; so that 
we may appeal to this very fact as a convincing 



138 Holiness. 

proof that it is among us that true religion is to 
be found." 

Of course Athanasius transcended the require- 
ments of the law in attributing to Christians 
*' upon earth an image of the sanctity of angels," 
but the passage shows how strong a hold upon 
his convictions the doctrine of holiness had. 

About the beginning of the fifth century Pela- 
gius was cited before a synod of fourteen bishops, 
charged with heresy in several things, and among 
the rest for saying unqualifiedly that " a man may 
be without sin if he will." Here is his explana- 
tion, in the correctness of which the entire synod 
concurred : " I have, indeed, said that man may 
be without sin, and keep God's commands, if he 
will. For this ability God has given him. But 
I have not said that any one can be found from 
infancy to old age who has never sinned ; but, 
being converted from sin, by his own labor and 
God's grace, he can be without sin ; still he is not 
by this immutal)le for the future." 

Augustine, the great opposer of Pelagius, 
grounded his intense opposition upon the dogma, 
attributed to Pelagius, that ^' men either can 
be or are perfectly holy without the grace of 
Christ." "If I also allow," he says, "thnt some 
have been or are without sin, still I maintain 



What Constituted Heresy, 139 

that in no other way are they or have they been 
able to be so but by being justified by the grace 
of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who was 
crucified." 

Augustine, in the heat of the controversy, aft- 
erward modified this view, and became an op- 
poser of the doctrine in any form. Others shared 
his sentiments, and during the succeeding cent- 
uries, especially through the Dark Ages, and 
down to the Reformation under Luther, there 
were found men who opposed this doctrine of 
the Church. Luther gave it no direct aid, and 
it therefore regained not its prominence in the 
Church until Wesley revived it, stripped it of 
heretical attachments, and handed it down, ex- 
plained and enforced, as the fairest heritage of 
spiritual Christianity. 

As surely as there is any purpose at all in our 
existence on earth, and any divinity in the relig- 
ion we profess to enjoy, so surely ought we to 
make the best use of our time, our powers, and 
our privileges in attaining unto this state of rich- 
est experience and highest eflSciency. God has 
not given us more years, more strength, or more 
means of grace than are necessary, when best 
utilized, to train and fit our characters for the 
exalted stations they are to occupy in the eter- 



140 Holiness. 

iial world. " Kings and priests unto God ! " 
What wisdom and purity do the very words 
imply ! 

But our station on earth is by no means con- 
temptible. We are even now the children of a 
King, and the heirs of promise. Privileges are 
ours in the life of faith nobler and better than 
worldly potentates are favored with. "There 
are regions of bliss that may be reached by every 
Christian. There are lands of Beulah where the 
air is very sweet and pleasant, and the sun is al- 
ways shining, and the birds are ever singing. 
There are high mountains apart, where, dwelling 
with Jesus, we are already in heaven." And we 
believe it too. No matter how negligently we 
may have lived, we believe there is an attainable 
state of devotion high and holy and beautiful. 
No doubt, at the door of entrance to our Church, 
no matter what its name, we vowed to attain to 
clean and sanctified lives. 

President Charles G. Finney, in his day, ear- 
nestly contended for this truth. " Every evan- 
gelical denomination," he observed, " requires its 
members to make a solemn covenant with God 
and with the Church, in the presence of God and 
angels, and with their hands upon the emblems 
of the broken body and shed blood of the blessed 



All Christians Subscribe to the Doctrine. 141 

Jesus, * to abstain from all ungodliness and every 
worldly lust, to live soberly and righteously in 
this present wo.^^ld.' Now if the doctrine of the 
attainability of entire sanctification in this life is 
not true, what profane mockery is this covenant ! 
It is a covenant to live in a state of entire sancti- 
fication, made under the most solemn circum- 
stances, enforced by the most awful sanctions, 
and insisted upon by the minister of God stand- 
ing at the altar. Now what right has any man 
on earth to require less than this ? 

" And again, what right has any man on earth 
to require this, unless it is a practical thing ? 

^' Suppose ivhen this covenant was proposed to 
a convert about to unite with the Church, he 
should take it to his closet, and spread it before 
the Lord, and inquire v/hether it was right for 
him to make such a covenant, and whether the 
grace of the Gospel can enable him to fulfill it. 
Do you suppose the Lord Jesus would reply, that 
if he made that covenant, he certainly would, and 
must, as a matter of course, live in the habitual 
violation of it as long as he lives, and that his 
grace was not sufficient to enable him to keep it ? 
Would he in such a case have any right to take 
upon himself this covenant ? No, no more than 
he would have a right to lie. 



142 Holiness. 

" It has long been maintained by orthodox di- 
vines that a person is not a Christian who does 
not aim at living without sin; that unless he aim 
at perfection, he manifestly consents to live in 
sin, and is therefore certainly impenitent. It has 
been, and I think truly, said, that if a man does 
not in the fixed purpose of his heart aim at total 
abstinence from sin, and at being wholly con- 
formed to the will of God, he is not yet regener- 
ated, and does not so much as mean to cease from 
abusing God." 

Other very thoughtful writers, who cannot be 
suspected of fanaticism on this subject, have 
given expression to sentiments entirely in accord 
with the foregoing. 

Rev. Dr. Theodore L. Cuyler, notwithstanding 
the " no little crude nonsense " which he thinks 
has been said and sung about the " higher life," 
goes on to affirm that " the word of God does de- 
scribe such a life, and it is the only sort of Chris- 
tianity that the apostles preached and practiced. 
Jonathan Edwards got a fresh installment of it 
when he said, ' From that time I began to have 
a new idea of Christ, and of the work of redemp- 
tion.' Such a higher life in the hearts of all our 
Church members would be a revival that would 
echo in heaven, and put a new face on our Chris- 



Di\ BiishneWs Concession, 143 

tianity, and introduce a new and tremendous 
power for the conversion of a dead world to 
God." 

Even Horace Bushnell thought it " curious to 
observe, when we read the Scripture, what an 
apparatus of cleansing God appears to have set 
in array for the purification of souls; sprinklings, 
washings, baptisms of water, baptisms of fire; 
fierce meltings also as of silver in the refiner's 
crucible; purifyings of the flesh and purgings 
of the conscience; lustrations of blood, even of 
Christ's own blood ; washings of the Word, and 
washings of regeneration by the Holy Ghost;'* 
and he declares it possible for the work of puri- 
fication in this present life to go on until it 
cleanses "the very currents of thought, as it is 
propagated in the mind when the will does not 
interfere, and the mind is allowed, for an hour, 
to run its own way, without hinderance, one thing 
suggesting another, as in reverie, there may yet 
be no evil, wicked, or foul suggestion thrust into 
it. Or in the state of sleep, where the will never 
interferes, but the thoughts rush on by a law of 
their own, the mixed causes of corruption may be 
so cleared away, and the soul restored to such 
simplicity and pureness, that the dreams will be 
only dreams of love and beauty; peaceful and 



l-ii Holiness. 

clear and happy, somewhat as we may imagine 
the waking thoughts of angels to be. There 
have been Christians who have testified to this 
heavenly sereneness of thought out of their own 
expei'ience. And precisely tliis is what Paul re- 
fers to when he speaks of bringing into captivity 
every thought to the obedience of Christ. When 
the mixed causes are taken captive in the soul, 
and Christ is the law of the whole action, then, 
in the same degree, simplicity and purity re- 
turn." 

" A holy life," says Dr. Bonar, " is made up of 
a number of small things: little vfords, not elo- 
quent speeches or sermons ; little deeds, not 
miracles or battles; nor one great heroic act of 
mighty martyrdom, make up the true Christian 
life. The little, constant sunbeam, not the light- 
ning ; the waters of Siloam ' that go softly ' in 
the meek mission of refreshment, not the Sva- 
ters of the river, great and many,' rushing down 
in noisy torrents, are the true symbols of a holy 
life. The avoidance of little evils, little sins, lit- 
tle inconsistencies, little weaknesses, little follies, 
indiscretions, and imprudences, little foibles, lit- 
tle indulgences of the flesh ; the avoidance of 
such little things as those goes far to make up, at 
least, the negative beauty of a holy life." 



The Positive Side, 145 

And the positive side is equally distinct and 
clear. 

Bates has compared the life of a saint to the 
labor of bees, who fly the livelong day either 
from their hives to the flowers, or from the flow- 
ers to their hives ; and all their art and exercise 
are where there is fragrance or sweetness. So 
the holy soul ascends to God in sweet thought 
and ardent desire, and God descends into the soul 
by the communication of grace and comfort. 
The soul thus becomes a heaven enlightened 
with the beams of the Sun of righteousness, a 
paradise planted with immortal fruits, the graces 
of the sanctifying Spirit ; and God walks with it 
communicating the sense of his love. 

Not that there are no conflicts and crosses, 
sorrows and self-denials. These are inevitably a 
part of life on earth. But they have a brighter 
view. 

"Sorrowful?" yes, "but always rejoicing." 
" Tribulation ? " yes, " but in me ye shall have 
peace." And Paul speaks of " glorying in tribu- 
lation." "A fight of faith?" "yes, but always 
resulting in " victory," in " overcoming our foes." 

When David was praying for the "clean 

heart," he included also the petition, "Restore 

unto me the joys of thy salvation." 
10 



Ii6 Holiness. 

The Saviour speaks of his disciples having 
*' fullness of joy;" his joy, his peace. Paul 
speaks of " rejoicing evermore," of the " peace 
of God which passetli all understanding, keeping 
the heart and mind through Christ Jesus." And 
Peter tells us of a " joy that is unspeakable and 
full of glory." 

All the developments of spiritual life are not 
alike easy of attainment. There are what Spur- 
geon denominates " the common frames and feel- 
ings of repentance and faith and joy and hope 
which are enjoyed by the entire family; but there 
is an upper realm of rapture, of communion, and 
conscious union with Christ, which is far from 
being the common dwelling-place of believers. 
All believers see Christ, but all believers do not 
put their fingers into the prints of the nails, nor 
thrust their hand into his side. We have not all 
the high privilege of John to lean upon Jesus' 
bosom, nor of Paul, to be caught up into the 
third heaven. In the ark of salvation we find a 
lower, second, and third story; all are in the 
ark, but all are not in the same story. Most 
Christians, as to the river of experience, are only 
up to the ankles ; some others have waded till the 
stream is up to the knees; a few find it breast- 
high, and but a few — O how few ! — find it a river 



Beyond the Breakers. 147 

to swim in, the bottom of which they cannot 
touch." 

Many never make the effort to get out into 
deep water. They are afraid to venture. They 
lack faith in the almighty Hand that buoys up 
every actively trusting soul. They see the break- 
ers of doubt and temptation and difficulty, and 
they keep on the shoreward side. They have 
heard of others who ventured through and found 
the calm, smooth, deep waters of love, but they 
do not follow. They prefer the wrestlings and 
tossings inevitably belonging to a shallow experi- 
ence, praying ever, 

" When rising floods my soul overflow, 
When sinks my heart in waves of woe, 
Jesus, thy timely aid impart, 
And raise my head, and cheer my heart." 

They go no farther. They could if they would. 
They might pray, 

" Now let me gain perfection's height ; 

Now let me into nothing fall, 
As less than nothing in thy sight, 

And feel that Christ is all in all. 

" To real holiness restored, 

let me gain my Saviour's mind ; 
And in the knowledge of my Lord, 

Fullness of life eternal find. 



148 Holiness. 

" Overwhelmed with thy stupendous grace, 
I shall not in thy presence move ; 

But breathe unutterable praise, 
And rapturous awe, and silent love." 

In respect to a life of holiness, believers are 
something like voyagers on the deep. When a 
man embarks on an ocean steamer it is his privi- 
lege to secure any kind of passage — first-class, 
second, or third. He may occupy a first-cabin 
berth, be a steerage passenger, or even have his 
place in the hold. So in regard to the higher 
and lower stories of the avk of salvation. The 
price is paid for us. " Jesus paid it all ; all the 
debt I owe." There is abundance of room wher- 
ever we choose our lot. Welcome awaits us in 
the highest place. Indeed, that is where God 
would have us be. He invites us all to the U23per 
room. " The Spirit and the bride say. Come." 
He shows no partiality. "Whosoever will" is 
the merciful and comprehensive word. Brother, 
choose your berth. 

Evidently there is more interest in this subject 
than might at first be inferred from a glance at the 
Church and society. Those who have taken upon 
themselves the vows of the Christian life are 
conscious that, having a name to live, they are 
also entitled to all the benefits and blessings of a 



'Much Interest in the Suhject. 149 

life hid with Christ in God; in other words, that 
it is folly to profess religion and not enjoy the 
full measure of its power. Nominal religion in 
substance amounts to nothing. It is not worth 
the profession. It gives no satisfaction to its 
subject and commands no respect from the world. 
Few professors of religion, who are not for a pur- 
pose hypocrites at heart, are contented with lip 
and life service only; they want the satisfying 
portion — the real, comforting, and soul-thrilling 
power, which only the fully saved enjoy. Some, 
because of this yearning of the soul, this going- 
out after God, this longing after the fullness of 
life which is in Christ, are constrained to open 
their bosoms to others; they counsel with those 
whom they believe to have attained, and are al- 
ready perfect ; they are open and earnest seek- 
ers after the blessing of entire sanctification, and 
when at last they enter into this rest, they are 
known, perhaps, as professors of the blessing of 
perfect love. But many nominal Christians do 
not venture an open acknowledgment of their 
secret yearnings. They hesitate to refer to it, 
fearing that, in the present state of society, they 
will be regarded as weak or peculiar, or that a 
committal of themselves to a line of special seek- 
ing may be found in their way under some other 



150 Holiness. 

of the varying circumstances of life. But nearly 
all, who have in any degree tasted and seen that 
the Lord is good, hunger and thirst after right- 
eousness, secretly and unscripturally, it may be, 
yet consciously, and in the better moments, ear- 
nestly. It would doubtless astonish many minis- 
ters who seldom allude to this subject, either in 
the pulpit or in pastoral work, to find a majority 
of Church members alive to it, and when once 
drawn out, very tender of soul, and ready imme- 
diately to be directed into the experience of 
purity. No amount of disputation or alleged 
fanaticism can hide from intelligent Christian 
minds the plain Bible truth that Jesus came to 
save to the uttermost, and that it is a blessed 
privilege, as well as solemn duty, to be cleansed 
" from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfect- 
ing holiness in the fear of God." 

And is there any thing in religion more attract- 
ive than this? Certainly to love God with all 
our hearts, and our neighbor as ourselves ; to 
have the image of God stamped on our souls, 
the life of God manifest in our mortal flesh, the 
mind that was in Christ clearly perceptible in all 
our expressions and ways; walking as Christ also 
walked; *^ endeavoring to keep the unity of the 
Spirit in the bond of peace;" returning not railing 



Beauty of Holiness, 151 

for railing, but disarming criticism by circum- 
spect lives; constantly laboring, praying without 
ceasing, rejoicing evermore, and in every thing 
giving thanks ; there is in such undeniable char- 
acteristics of personal holiness something very 
charming and beautiful. 

To fully appreciate this " we must realize the 
ugliness of sin ; for sinfulness is the only alterna- 
tive to holiness. If a man is not holy in heart 
and life he is sinful in heart and life ; and sin is 
the most hideously ugly thing in the universe. 
All the gilding and attractions with which Satan 
and wicked men seek to invest it cannot make it 
beautiful. It is deformity, imperfection, impuri- 
ty, defilement — terms used to designate essential 
ugliness. By contrast with these qualities of sin, 
we may see the intrinsic beauty of holiness. It 
is purity, symmetry, perfection, likeness to God, 
who is the sum of all perfection. Sin is hell in 
the soul, insubordination, anarchy of all its pas- 
sions and powers, which are not only in conflict 
with conscience, but are in conflict with one an- 
other ; insomuch that ' the wicked are like the 
troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters 
cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace saith 
my God to the wicked.' Holiness is peace, and 
heaven in the soul, the harmony of all its powers 



152 Holiness. 

with one another, with conscience, and with God. 
The sinful soul is a cage of unclean birds, a 
whited sepulcher, if its possessor is outwardly 
circumspect, but within full of rottenness and 
dead men's bones. The holy soul is the abode 
of all pure thoughts, aflEections, desires, pur- 
poses ; the abode of the immaculate Trinity. 
*We will come unto him, and make our abode 
with him.'" 

How little does it matter whether the power of 
the Spirit, resulting in such living, overshadows 
the believing soul in an instant, as no doubt is 
often the case, so that from that time he enjoys 
inward and outward holiness, to which he was 
before an utter stranger, or whether it comes in 
the gradual unfolding of a long consecrated life ! 
The main point is that the soul is truly trans- 
formed, that there is no deception, no delusion, 
but a deep and constant communion with the 
Father and the Son, whereby the whole heart is 
surrendered and the whole life governed and con- 
trolled by the purest principles of the divine 
word. 

The truth is, no one experience, or class of ex- 
periences, as to this doctrine, can ever become a 
universal standard. Here, as in conversion, and 
in intellectual exercises, every man in his own 



Every Man in His Own Order. 153 

order. Controversies as to the method of becom- 
ing holy may wage until the millennium, and 
nothing be settled. Nevertheless souls may con- 
tinue to trust God for full salvation, and testify 
to the experience of it, supporting the testimony 
by holy living and dying. In this, not in the 
long-drawn arguments of theorists, the beauty of 
holiness appears. To this earnest-minded believ- 
ers would better give attention. In the contem- 
plation of it there is profit, and in the experience 
of it there is spiritual and eternal gain. To have 
the inward man of the heart renewed after the 
image of God, cannot but strike every eye that 
God hath quickened — every enlightened under- 
standing. 

" The ornament of a meek, bumble, loving spirit 
will at least excite the approbation of all who are 
capable, in any degree, of discerning spiritual 
good and evil. From the hour men begin to 
emerge out of the darkness which covers the 
giddy, unthinking world, they cannot but per- 
ceive how desirable a thing it is to be thus trans- 
formed into the likeness of him that created us." 

God is love. This is the image of him we 
most readily acquire. Love is of God, and by 
loving we show that we are in God. 

This love or charity is the '^bond of perfect- 



154 Holiness. 

ness." It gives value to all other graces. With- 
out it faith, that could remove mountains and un- 
derstand all mysteries, is of no profit. Without 
it man is dead while he liveth, and viewed from 
the stand-point of eternity, all his works are value- 
less. Meditation, prayer, consecration, are all es- 
sential in advancing to a state of holiness, but 
they must abound in charity — the love of God 
for himself, and man for the love of God. 

Some one asked the Bishop of Geneva what he 
must do to attain perfection. 

" You must love God with all your heart, and 
your neighbor as yourself," was the reply. 

'^I did not ask wherein perfection lies," was 
the rejoinder, "but how to attain to it." 

"Charity," said the Bishop again, "is both 
means and end, the only way by which we can 
reach that perfection, which is, in truth, after all, 
but charity itself. St. Paul says, ^I will show 
you a more excellent way ;' and then he enlarges 
more fully upon charity. It is the life of all that 
is good; without it all graces die: it is the only 
way to God; the only life of the soul, for it 
brings us forth from the death of sin into the 
life of grace : it kindles faith and hope. Just as 
the soul is the life of the body, so charity is the 
life of the soul." 



How to Love God, 155 

"I know all that," said the inquirer, "but I 
want to know how one is to love God with all 
the heart, and his neighbor as himself ? " 

" The best way, the shortest and easiest way 
of loving God with ail one's heart," the Bishop 
replied, "is to love him wholly and heartily. 
There are many besides you who want me to tell 
them of methods and systems and secret ways of 
becoming perfect, and I can only tell them that 
the sole secret is a hearty love of God, and the 
only way of attaining that love is by loving. 
You learn to speak by speaking, to study by 
studying, to work by working ; and just so you 
learn to love God and man by loving. If you 
want to love God perfectly, go on loving him 
more and more; never look back, press forward 
continually. When you are making most prog- 
ress you will most constantly press on, never be- 
lieving yourself to have reached the end ; for 
charity should go on increasing till we draw our 
last breath." 

Again, he added, "If we really love God, we 
shall strive to promote his glory ; we shall gladly 
render him every service he requires ; we shall 
be jealous for our neighbor's welfare, and seek to 
promote it as our own, because this is acceptable 
to God. This is true charity, real solid love of 



156 Holiness. 

God for his own sake, and of man for God's 
sake." 

In the j)rocesses of sanctifi cation the Holy 
Ghost, the third person of the ever-blessed Trini- 
ty, is a very active agent. Religious writers are 
all agreed in this, 

"Turn with me for a moment," says the late 
Dr. Henry Cowles, the eminent educator and 
commentator of the Congregationalist Church, 
" to a short but precious chapter in the history 
of true religion. We have it in the Acts of the 
Apostles. It is the history of the men who were 
baptized with the Holy Ghost. It will be remem- 
bered that at the time of their baptism they were 
already Christians of a certain sort — ^that they 
had followed Christ with more or less of devo- 
tion for some three years or more, and had ap- 
parently left all for his sake. Still they had 
many crude notions, great unbelief, and not a 
little fear of man. They were sanctified very 
partially. A mighty work remained to be 
wrought in their hearts. There is room for a 
change more striking than even that of their first 
conversion, and the Spirit of God can effect it. 
The Spirit comes. His sweet and mighty effu- 
sions are shed forth on them all. And what are 
they now? Their hearts are filled with love — • 



The Day of Pentecost 157 

yes, filled, absolutely filled, with love. The his- 
torian tells us often that they are of one accord, 
of one heart, and of one soul. See, too, what love 
they bear to Christ. Mark how they rejoice to 
be counted worthy to suffer shame for his sake. 
See how, as on lightning's wing, they bear the 
story of his love to all nations. Note the love 
they manifest for a dying world. It would seem 
as if love had become their ruling passion; and 
in some of its manifestations toward their Sav- 
iour, each other, lost sinners, or their enemies, it 
w^ere bursting forth in mighty, ceaseless currents. 

^'And where now is their former love of the 
world ? What do they care henceforth for its 
favors or its frowns? What for its honors? O 
they have laid them down with all joy at their 
Saviour's feet, and have taken up his cross for 
their crown of glory. 

"And how marvelously, too, have their fears 
vanished away. Where is he, that one among 
them who, a few days ago, quailed before a serv- 
ant-maid, and, through fear of ill-treatment, for- 
sook his Master, and absolutely took his oath that 
he did not know him ? Yes, where is he ? He 
is brought before that very council which struck 
such terror through his soul but yesterday. Sum- 
moning all the dignity and majesty of a Jewish 



158 Holiness. 

Sanhedrin, they fiercely interrogate him, to know 
by what power he is acting. And does he quail 
now? No. The historian tells us that Peter, 
'filled with the Holy Ghost,' made his defense 
fearlessly, preached to them the Gospel of Jesus 
boldly, confounded them utterly, and finally left 
them with this resistless appeal to their con- 
sciences: ^Whether it be right in the sight of 
God to hearken unto you more than unto God, 
judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things 
which we have seen and heard.' Acts iv, 19, 20. 
Such is one feature of the change wrought in a 
soul ' filled with the Holy Ghost.' " 

A few passages of Scripture will make plain 
the fact and nature of the Spirit's work: 

" God hath from the beginning chosen you to 
salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and 
belief of the truth." "But we all, with open face 
beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are 
changed into the same image from glory to glory, 
even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 

Peter says to believers, "Ye have purified 
yourselves, by obeying the truth, through the 
Spirit." Christ is that truth which the Spirit pre- 
sents to our minds, yielding to which we experi- 
ence purity. The Spirit never speaks of himself; 
he glorifies Christ. He never acts independently 



Tlie Spirit's Worh. 159 

of Christ. He takes of the things of Christ and 
shows them unto us. He brings the Godhead 
into our souls. The love of God shed abroad in 
our hearts is " by the Holy Ghost, which is given 
unto us." The Father and the Son come and make 
their abode with us because "we are built to- 
gether for an habitation of God through the 
Spirit." The Spirit leads us into all truth. He 
dwells with us, and is in us. We are sealed with 
the Holy Spirit of promise. He is given us as a 
Teacher and Comforter. How much, then, ought 
we to know and enjoy. The Spirit is bestowed 
upon us to give us " the light of the knowledge 
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ," 
that we may enjoy the fullness of Christ's re- 
demption. 

Of his own experience under this gracious bap- 
tism Dr. Cowles, in his work on "Holiness of 
Christians," says, " In the sorrows and the joys of 
the Christian life it has been my lot to partici- 
pate somewhat deeply. Spontaneously do I seize 
the language of another and subscribe myself, 
' your brother and companion in tribulation, and 
in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ.' 
Permit me, therefore, to unbosom myself to you 
so far at least as to detail briefly what God has 
wrought for me. This I do, not because I wish 



160 Holiness. 

to make myself prominent — for nothing is more 
revolting to my soul — but mainly for two rea- 
sons : 1. That from the deepest dust I may tes- 
tify to the great goodness and kindness of God 
toward me; and, 2. That I may bear my testi- 
mony to the practical value of the blessed truths 
which I have been urging you to study, embrace, 
and obey. 

"It is now about twenty years since I have 
supposed myself to be a child of God; and dur- 
ing most of this period I have had little or no 
doubt of my being accepted of him through the 
merits of his Son. Yet there has been a sad de- 
ficiency in the practical power of the Gospel upon 
my heart to subdue sin, and keep me under the 
protecting wing and inspiring eye of my Saviour. 
I have been conscious of sins, and have struggled 
against some of them long and hard, and almost 
in vain. For many years my intellectual percep- 
tions of truth were always in advance of my 
moral sensibilities in view of it. Over this I 
have mourned bitterly as a grievous sin, and 
often have thought that my inveterate habits in 
this respect were incurable. 

" But I did not apprehend the adequate full- 
ness of the provisions of the Gospel. I was re- 
sisting sin more by dint of resolutions than by 



Experience of Dr. Coioles. 161 

the aid of simple faith in Christ. I had not seen 
that there is grace enough provided to justify the 
rational expectation of being delivered in this life 
from all known sin, and from all sin as fast as 
revealed to us by God's word and Spirit. With 
these views, how could I expect more victory 
over sin, and more ample communications of the 
Spirit than I had ? 

"Through a most kind providence my mind, 
more than a year since, was strongly turned to 
the investigation of this subject, especially as 
taught in the Bible. The result on my spiritual 
state remains to be briefly told. 

" 1. My views of the provisions of the Gospel 
have been greatly enlarged, and have become more 
definite. The Bible taught me to regard them 
as entirely adequate for their object — the supply 
of all my spiritual wants. 2. I see with great 
clearness how certainly and intensely the heart 
of Christ is set upon sanctifying his Church, and 
how ardently the energies of each person in the 
Trinity are devoted to this work. 3. Conse- 
quently I have learned to ask for greater bless- 
ings. No spiritual blessing for myself seems too 
great to be sought of God in prayer. I have a 
precious conviction — worth more than both the 

Indies — that I cannot please God better than in 
11 



162 HoLixEss. 

asldng every moment to have my capacities abso- 
lutely filled with spiritual gifts and graces. I 
know that the more earnestly and confidingly I 
pray to be just like Jesus Christ, the more accept- 
able will my prayer be, and the more sure of 
being answered. 4. Of course I have learned to 
expect greater blessings. And, 5. Of course also 
I have received greater blessings. God has shown 
me that my moral insensibilities under intellectual 
apprehensions of truth can pass away in a mo- 
ment under the melting touch of the Spirit's 
power. On Gospel truths and promises my soul 
now feasts with a luxury which none can ever 
know but by experience. Every thing about re- 
ligion becomes a blessed reality. I know not 
how in better and fewer words to describe my 
state. Religious truths are transformed into 
solid realities. The shadowy objects of a dim 
and weak faith have assumed the full form and 
vivid features of real existence." 

Mrs. Mary C. Nind, a well known Christian 
worker, has given to the press an interesting nar- 
ration of her entrance into full spiritual light. 
She was born near London, England; converted 
at the age of five years, became a Sunday-school 
teacher at twelve, and united with the Congrega- 
tionalist Church at fourteen. Coming to Amer- 



Experience of Mary C, Nind, 163 

ica, she continued in active service for the Master. 
Her religious studies and associations naturally 
led her to wonder whether she might not have a 
richer experience than she had hitherto enjoyed; 
whether, indeed, there was not perfect rest of 
soul in store for the believing heart. 

" Must I go on," she reasoned, " thirty, forty, 
fifty, sixty years, and still have to fight against 
my easily besetting sins, and every now and then 
be conquered? Is there no hope of victory all 
the time ? Cannot Jesus, the physician of soul 
and body, heal my soul as quickly and as perfect- 
ly as he healed the sick while on earth, saying to 
the leper, ' I will; be thou clean. And immediate- 
ly his leprosy was cleansed ? ' Thus I reasoned and 
soliloquized, then went to a good old deacon for 
a solution, and told him all, and he answered me, 
*Mary, you want too much; you must expect to 
fight and struggle and to be overcome by sin and 
Satan sometimes through your life, but ere you 
die, before you go to heaven, Jesus will take all 
your sins away, and make you holy.' My heart 
was heavy as I turned away, not believing the 
theology given, and feeling an earnest desire to 
die suddenly, and soon, if I must go on battling for 
threescore years and ten. But I lived on, passed 
through childhood, early womanhood, into the re- 



164 Holiness. 

lations of wife and mother, growing in grace, still 
at work for Jesus, having a good amount of joy 
in the Lord, and yet, as thousands do, sinning 
and repenting, gaining a victory, then losing a 
battle, struggling, fasting, resolving, praying, 
hoping, longing to be free. For nearly forty 
years I was ' in the wilderness,' so near the good- 
ly Canaan, and yet not entering in, for I had no 
Joshua to tell me ^ I was well able to go up and 
possess the land,' nor did I know how to enter. 

" ^ But God, who is rich in mercy,' having seen 
my tears, heard my sighs, sobs, and prayers — saw 
me beating against my cage, trying to be free. 
He sent a man of God from the Theological Sem- 
inary in Chicago, who preached the doctrine of 
the ' Higher Life,' and he enjoyed the experience 
he preached. I listened eagerly. I longed for 
Sunday to come that I might know more. How 
clear and well-defined the way — the narrow way 
— how much consecration included and involved. 
How the light of the Spirit did shine upon the 
truth. How the Lord did discover to me that 
there was much to be surrendered — love of ap- 
plause and honor, some worldly ambitions, love 
of dress, desire to be rich, and many other things. 
After some conflicts, sharp and strong, I resolved 
to be and do all the Lord would have me be and 



Experience of Mary C, Rind. 165 

do, cost what it would. I laid aside my jewelry- 
after hearing an excellent sermon upon the text, 
^Let your women adorn themselves in modest 
apparel,' and as on my knees I told the Lord I 
did it for his sake, the blessed baptism fell on 
me as the seal of the divine approval. This lit- 
tle act cost me some bitter opposition, but I 
steadily adhered, and rejoiced in my freedom^ 
God's word was studied from cover to cover to 
learn his will. With earnest prayer I sought to 
know the mind of the Spirit. Meetings were at- 
tended, conversation with the pastor, the reading 
of books which would throw light upon the doc- 
trine and experience, and after many, many 
months, I came to the conviction : ' The Bible 
teaches we may " be holy," we may " be 
cleansed," we may have "rest" even here, we 
may be " sanctified wholly," we may be " saved 
to the uttermost."' Judgment, intellect, con- 
science, say yes to it all, but inbred sin yet re- 
mained. 

" Anew I consecrated myself to the Lord and 
his service, and with new consecration came new j oy. 
Two years and eight months passed on, the Lord all 
the while setting his seal to the steps I had taken. 
The children all converted, and many of my Sun- 
day-school scholars; the consecration, so far as I 



166 Holiness. 

had ligbt, complete, but the blessing of a clean 
heart not obtained. . . . 

"In the year 1867, at Winona, Minn., I was led 
by a dear sister, a busy mother like myself, to 
trust the Lord for salvation from inbred sin, the 
cleansing of my heart, which should bring to me 
what I had so long desired — ^the rest of faith.' 
In my ov/n room on Thursday evening, just be- 
fore going to prayer-meeting, the work was done, 
and the baptism of melting love and the gentle 
hush of tenderness and rest of soul was mine. 
And I said, again and again, ' Can it be, after all 
these years of weary waiting and hard struggling, 
that I have rest ?' I went to prayer-meeting and 
tried to tell it, but it was the rest unspea,kable. 
All night long I was too happy to speak, and a 
hundred times or more I said, * Blessed Jesus, I 
have rest, sweet rest. Emptied of self, filled with 
God, Mary C. Nind has rest. Halleluiah ! ' The 
morning came, the best morning of my life, then, 
the power of God had prostrated my body — 
physically weak, but O such rest ! — my face, my 
voice, my step, my bearing was changed ; my 
children noticed it. I told them I had rest. I 
cannot say it has been from that time until now 
imbroken rest, but I can say that through grace 
it has been the habit of my soul, and whenever I 



Experience of Rev. Dr. Osborn. 167 

have lost it, I have by faith pursued till I re- 
gained it. I cannot live or work successfully for 
Jesus without it. It cost me much to seek it and 
find it — too much to ever lose it. It has been to 
me ' the pearl of great price.' These years since 
I have been in this valley of blessing have been 
years of ' Beulah land,' years of rest, victory, 
peace, joy, and glad-continued service; and as I 
go I sing, 

" * come to this valley of blessing so sweet, 

Where Jesus will fullness bestow ; 
believe and receive and confess him, 

That all his salvation may know.' " 

Many other testimonies might be incorporated 
here, but they would swell this volume to too 
large proportions. One more must suffice. 

" I need an angel's power," was the acknowl- 
edgment of Rev. D. Osborn, "to express the 
heaven of sweetness and love which flows into 
my soul, and the fullness I see in Christ Jesus 
my Lord. I know that my present Redeemer 
from all unrighteousness lives, and lives now for 
me. But I can no more tell the depth and 
breadth of perfect love than a man could tell the 
measure of the mighty mass of waters if he were 
thrown overboard in the middle of the Atlantic. 



168 Holiness. 

^God is love:' I know it, I feel it; 'and he that 
dwelleth in love, dwelletb in God, and God in 
him.' O what a measureless ocean ! A child of 
earth submerged in the deep sea of God's pure 
love! 

"I now see a fullness and a meaning in the 
blessed Bible, which before I could not discover. 
I read before with pleasure, but now I can read 
and comprehend in the light of the experience of 
the blessed doctrine of holiness. When I read 
that perfect love casteth out fear, I understand it, 
I know what it is to have the fear of sufferings, 
of death, and of the burning judgment, cast out 
by perfect love. And yet how small and insig- 
nificant am I. I seem to sink into nothing, while 
Christ is all in all. 

" I think I know what Pay son means when he 
says, 'The Sun of righteousness has been gradu- 
ally drawing nearer and nearer, appearing larger 
and brighter as he approached, and now he fills 
the whole hemisphere, pouring forth a flood of 
glory, in which I seem to float, like an insect in 
the beams of the sun.' I think I have enjoyed 
something of this great blessing before, but only 
a taste. I never before saw its mighty fullness; 
and that fullness I hold only by simple faith, mo- 
ment by moment ; while all I am lies on the altar 



Dominion of Sin. 169 

as an entire sacrifice to God, trusting him for all 
that is to come, who has said, ' My grace is suffi- 
cient for thee.' 

" To all who seek this great blessing I would 
say, With all on the altar, expect it by simple 
faith, just now; and to those who do enjoy it, I 
would say. With all on the altar, hold it by sim- 
ple faith, just now. May God multiply the living 
witnesses of perfect love ! " 

How many there are who feel that sin, in some 
of its forms, has dominion over them, and they 
long for complete deliverance. Yet they have no 
clear conception of the way of escape. They 
have, perhaps, heard of the doctrine of holiness, 
or have given it just enough attention to imagine 
that it is some modern contrivance, some man- 
made theory, used by agitators to call attention 
to themselves or kee23 up a religious stir. They 
know not that full salvation is only the common 
salvation rightly improved and enjoyed. Their 
eyes are not opened to the truth that right before 
them in their neglected Bibles are the very prom- 
ises and assurances upon which this whole doc- 
trine rests. They might turn to the Old Testa- 
ment and hear the Divine voice proclaiming 
through Ezekiel: 

"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, 



170 Holiness. 

and ye sliallbe clean: from all your filtliiness, and 
from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new 
heart also Avill I give you: and a new spirit will I 
put within you: and I will take away the stony 
heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a 
heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within 
you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and 
ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." 

Or to the New Testament, and hear Paul 
say: 

" The Lord make you to increase and abound 
in love one tovvard another, and toward all men, 
even as we do toward you: to the end he may 
stablish your hearts unblamable in holiness before 
God." 

Upon these and kindred passages they might 
rest their weary souls. They are all made to us, 
and by them we may become partakers of the 
divine nature, and thus escape the corruption 
that is in the w^orld through lust. It is a sad 
truth that " we have not yet begun to appreciate 
the fullness, depth, and richness of the provisions 
of the Gospeh" We appreciate the value of 
money, the joy of social life, the pleasures of 
time and sense, but not the value of the true 
riches, the joy of a holy life, and the exalted and 
pure pleasures of saving and sanctifying grace. 



Holiness N'ot Appreciated, 171 

A few there are, indeed, wlio have partaken of a 
measure of the fullness, a taste of this blessed- 
ness, but such live a separate, even a lonely, life, 
and are counted a peculiar people. Nearly all 
the Churches believe in holiness as a theory 
under some name, but the pulpits of the day^ 
echo not with the preaching of it. Here and 
there a pastor preaches an occasional sermon on 
the necessity of a holy life, but the intervals be- 
tween are so extended that the doctrine is soon 
lost sight of. What should be a standard theme 
in regular pulpits is rarely discussed at all. 

Alas, that it is so! We cannot neglect this ex- 
perience and be guiltless. We cannot neglect it 
and be happy. We cannot neglect it and be use- 
ful to the extent of our responsibility. Holiness 
gives power to the Church and the ministry, and 
neither education, nor wealth, nor numbers, can 
compensate for its absence. 

Holiness is by faith. The whole Christian life 
is a life of faith. '' Believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ and thou shalt be saved" is a condition 
which applies from the first token of penitence to 
the highest point of spiritual attainment. 

Frances Ridley Havergal, that scholarly En- 
glish woman of such rai-e religious insight and 
training, wrote a hymn that tells the whole story. 



172 Holiness. 

Her own grace and earnestness are couched in its 
expressive lines : 

" Church of God, beloved and chosen, 

Church of Christ for whom he died, 
Claim thy gifts and praise the Giver ! 

* Ye are washed and sanctified.' 
Sanctified by God the Father, 

And by Jesus Christ his Son, 
And by God the Holy Spirit, 

Holy, holy, three in One. 

" By his will he sanctifieth, 

By the Spirit's power within. 
By the loving hand that chasteneth, 

Fruits of righteousness to win ; 
By his truth and by his promise. 

By the word his gift unpriced, 
By his own blood, and by union, 

With the risen life of Christ. 

" Holiness by faith in Jesus, 

Not by effort of thine own, — 
Sin's dominion crushed and broken 

By the power of grace alone, — 
God's own holiness within thee, 

His own beauty on thy brow, — 
This shall be thy pilgrim brightness, 

This thy blessed portion now. 

" He will sanctify thee wholly ; 

Body, spirit, soul, shall be, 
Blameless till thy Saviour's coming 

In his glorious majesty ; 



Complete Consecration. 173 

He hath perfected forever 

Those whom he hath sanctified ; 
Spotless, glorious, and holy, 

Is the Church, his chosen Bride." 

But this faith will hardly be exercised by 
those who have not engaged in the preparatory 
work of a complete consecration. As a means 
of attaining to a clean heart, a sanctified life, 
the real disposition on our part to rise so high, 
to gain so much, ought to be appropriately mani- 
fested. 

"Are you willing," inquires Bishop Foster, in 
his ' Heritage of Faith,' " to devote all, entirely, 
forever, to the Lord ? Holiness implies this; if 
we are not willing to make the consecration, we 
are not willing, and hence not ready, to receive 
holiness." 

Guarding, as we think, wisely against the illu- 
sion, "Believe that you are sanctified and you 
are," he says : 

" It is meet, when we have consecrated our all 
as well as we can, that we should trust in God; 
not in our act, but in God ; not that he has sanc- 
tified, because we have consecrated ourselves, but 
that he will accept the consecration, and both 
sanctify and send us the witness. Until the wit- 
ness comes we will not say that we are entirely 



174 Holiness. 

sanctified — we will not even believe we are; we 
will look to be, and wait in expectation until we 
are, and then we will rest in God — ay, will rest 
while we wait — in the faith that it shall be 
done." 

Such an attitude is becoming to the Christian. 
It shows him as hungering and thirsting after 
righteousness in the blessed certainty of being 
filled. It proves the genuineness of his conver- 
sion, inasmuch as having tasted and seen that the 
Lord is good, he would tarry at the feast for 
complete satisfaction. It answers to the senti- 
ment of St. Paul, who made it the " one thing " 
of his spiritual endeavor to forget the things 
behind and reach forth unto those before, ever 
pressing toward the mark for the prize. Let us, 
therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded. 
Even whereto we have already attained, let us 
walk by the same rule, let us mind the same 
thing. 



Education Needed. 175 



X. 

IN POWER-THE MINISTRY. 

LET us consider some of the qualifications nec- 
essary to higher success in the ministry of to- 
day. Success is what we want ; success in saving 
souls. 

And, first of all, ministers must be adapted to 
their calling. They must have natural ability for 
its arduous work. They must be men of God, 
bold, strong, devoted, sanctified ; recognized by 
all as being men among men ; and loving their 
labors more than they love their lives. 

They must be students. They must have col- 
lege training if they can get it. Colleges do not 
make brains, but they improve Avhat a man has. 
Experienced non-graduates in the ministry re- 
gret, when alone with their English Bibles, their 
libraries, and their God, that they have not the 
advantages of collegiate discipline. They know 
that greater usefulness might be theirs if pre- 
pared to grapple directly and promptly with the 
problems which educated skeptics and worldlings 
(though these classes are not all educated) are 



176 In Powep.— The Ministry. 

continually thrusting upon public attention. It is 
not the business of the Gospel minister, primarily, 
to confute infidelity, but it is his business to be 
ready to give to every man that asketh a reason 
for the hope that is in him, with meekness and 
fear. 

All talk about self-education is practically an 
argument for the schools. Every self-educated 
minister is a standing proof that ministers need 
education, else why do they study to acquire it ? 
And it would not be difficult to prove that the 
long and necessarily defective efforts at self-train- 
ing are not the best. Our conclusion is, if a man 
would be most useful in the ministry, let him first 
know that God wills he should preach; then let 
him use the gift that is in him, adding to it by all 
possible diligence, in the colleges, if possible, or 
in connection with them as a necessary alterna- 
tive; if neither is possible to him, still let him 
study every- where, in all ways and times, that by 
some means he may prove himself a workman 
needing not to be ashamed of his intellectual, any 
more than of his spiritual, acquirements. The 
matter is important. The fathers are falling, and 
there is danger that the sons will be less rigor- 
ous in their voluntary efforts at self-mastery. 
The conditions have all changed. Satan's allies 



Best Training Beqicired, 177 

"bear polished weapons of keenest edge. How 
shall Israel's captains cope with them ? Do you 
say, with sling and stone, as David did? But 
David used the best weapon of his time, and, 
having done his part, God took care of the rest. 
But these are days of needle-guns and Winchester 
rifles, and a commander would be little better 
than an idiot who would send his soldiers to 
battle with primitive weapons, as against the 
destructive appliances of modern art. Man has 
his province, and in it he is to act wisely. God 
can and must be trusted to-day the same as of 
old, but he will not do for man what man can 
do for himself. It is a major part of every min- 
ister's duties to qualify himself for the most 
eflfective service in fighting the Lord's battles. 

A good theological training is especially need- 
ful in the modern preacher. Fundmental doc- 
trines are too seldom preached, and not given their 
rightful proportions in relation to each other. 

A preacher who has not himself the right per- 
spectives of truth, who holds doctrines in a con- 
fused and distorted order, and misplaces them rel- 
atively, giving to some erroneous projections, and 
keeping others too far in the back-ground, how- 
ever orthodox he may be, is liable to mislead his 

people, and produce all the practical evils of a 
12 



178 In Power — The Ministry. 

false teaching. If theology were a missliapen 
mass of independent truths, the responsibilities of 
the public teacher would be far less than they 
now are. The only way in which he could in that 
case mislead would be by the complete omission 
of some vital doctrines, and the substitution of 
erroneous ones. But theology is a system of re- 
lated truths, and it is the business of the preacher 
to understand these relations, and properly adjust 
them in his public ministrations. If he make the 
subordinate the prominent, error is just about as 
effectually preached as if he omitted the funda- 
mental doctrines altogether. "As a man think- 
eth so is he." Teach him to think that a non- 
essential is an essential, or that a vital doctrine is 
of little consequence, and straightway the error 
crops out in his conversation and life. Let a min- 
ister imbibe false notions of duty and responsibil- 
ity, and teach them to his fellows, and the result 
is disastrous to the spirituality of the Church. 

Earnestness is an essential element in the min- 
istry. 

A writer made a great stir recently by publish- 
ing an article on the insincerity of the modern 
pulpit. What ever of error crept into his sayings, 
it is yet deplorable that even a liberalist should 
find occasion to impeach the pulpit at so vital a 



Earnestness Indispensable, ' 179 

point. Whatever else preaching is, it ought to be 
sincere; and it would seem that if preachers had 
truth fixed in their own minds in its relative pro- 
portions, and in its bearings on duty and destiny, 
there would never be even a semblance of insin- 
cerity in appeals to dying men. 

We would most respectfully and urgently en- 
treat the ministerial brother, whose eyes may fol- 
low these lines, to examine his own heart and head 
and life and writings, whether he has not trifled 
with the sacred oflice by giving undue prominence 
to some personal whim, some beautiful but unim- 
portant idea which was calculated to please the 
fancy, but not to bless the soul, some point of 
doctrine so small as to require a year's searching 
among the great words of inspiration to find a 
single one to confirm it, and then only by torture. 
Does it not appear as if Paul had been thus ex- 
amining himself when he declared with such ear- 
nestness to the brethren at Corinth, " I am deter- 
mined to know nothing among you save Jesus 
Christ, and him crucified ? " If ministers felt for 
souls as they ought ; if they believed in the doc- 
trine of hell, as they profess; if they were really 
of one work, as they have vowed; would there 
not be warnings and entreatings with tears, such 
as the world too seldom witnesses, and such as 



180 In Power — The Ministry. 

•would rouse sleeping mortals from tlieir delusive 
dreams ? Without attempting to clear members 
of the Church from one iota of their responsibility 
in this matter, we can but believe that if the 
eighty thousand ministers of this country could 
have their hearts burn within them as if on fire 
of the Holy Ghost, and their lips touched as with 
a live coal from the holy altar, this nation would 
speedily witness such a Pentecost as has not been 
known since the time when the cloven tongues 
crowned the brows of the consecrated disciples 
who went out to turn the world upside down. 

" To preach well," says a writer, " ministers 
must live well. 

" When a man delineates religion not so much 
as the result of study and reasoning as a matter of 
his own history; when he unfolds it with that in- 
expressible character of life and earnestness which 
accompany truth drawn from one's own bosom, 
he cannot be powerless. There is nothing vague 
and uncertain, nothing obscure or unintelligible 
in the speech of such a one. He presses earnestly 
toward his object. His heart's desire is that his 
hearers may be saved. The power of that inward 
emotion he cannot conceal. Chains cannot bind 
it. It thaws through the most icy habits. It 
bursts from the lip. It speaks from the eye. It 



Ministers must he Spiritual in Life, 181 

modulates the tone. It pervades the whole man- 
ner. It possesses and controls the whole man. 
He is seen to be in earnest; he convinces; he 
persuades. 

" It is a most important service which religion 
has rendered, not only to the eloquence of the 
pulpit, but to every department of Christian lit- 
erature, by putting the faculties under the press^ 
ure and power of a grand motive. The heart of 
man must be pressed and w^ell nigh crushed be- 
fore it will give out its wine and its oil. Woe 
is me, said Paul, if I preach not the Gospel of 
Christ. He who would preach with force and 
effect must subject himself to that religious sense 
of responsibility which is alone competent to 
bring into action every dormant faculty; and 
bear about him the solemn and weighty reflection 
that he watches for souls as one tliat must give 
account. Whenever the heart and conscience 
exert their combined power in this direction, 
every talent will be employed; the whole man is 
urged to full and efficient action. Cast such a 
man into prison, and, like Bunyan, * ingenious 
dreamer,' will he describe the progress of the 
soul to God; confine him to a bed of sickness, and, 
like Baxter, will he sweetly muse and write of the 
^rest' of saints in heaven; blind his eyes in total 



182 In Power — The Ministry. 

night, and ^celestial liglit ' will sliine inward, 
enabling him, like the glorious Milton, to 

* See and tell 
Of things invisible to mortal sight.' 

Fetter him with chains, and in the very presence 
of kings and governors, he will, like Paul, reason 
about a judgment to come; nail him to the cross, 
his heart will still palpitate with inextinguishable 
love, and his latest breath will be spent, like his 
Master's, in praying and speaking for others' 
good." 

Devotion to work is an essential of success in 
all callings, especially in the Gospel ministry. 
Selfishness here is a fatal defect. There must 
be a spirit of self-forgetfulness and self-sacrifice, 
a willingness to live unknown to fame, and to be 
forgotten after death by the worldly historian. 
The true minister must be ready to exclaim, with 
the apostle, "Yea, doubtless, and I count all things 
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of 
Christ Jesus my Lord." " He knows that fame is 
but a breath, variable as the wind, and honor a 
mere condition that may change into dishonor in 
the next revolution of public opinion or change of 
the circumstances about him. Even the earth 
upon whose surface the scenes of honor and in- 



Devotion to Work. 183 

famy are played interchangeably in the great 
drama of life will be consumed by spontaneous 
combustion, and lie a ^smoking clinker on the 
grates of eternity.' Deeper concerns than ^ the 
bubble reputation ' interest the man of God. He 
is in earnest to save himself, and the divine com- 
mission to save others burns in his soul like fire 
shut up in his bones; he, therefore, has no dispo- 
sition to toy with the frothy honors and evanes- 
cent joys of earth. ^Who wants amusement in 
the flame of battle ? 'Twere treason to the soul 
immortal, her foes in arms, eternity the prize.'"* 
To be successful, ministers must be men of one 
work. The Church demands that pastors do 
faithfully what is contemplated in their ordina- 
tion vows. Secular enterprises and private spec- 
ulations never yet made a minister more respected 
by his membership. They may admire his genius, 
and even follow after him in his personal pursuits, 
but his spiritual counsels will lose their power, 
and his religious labors be attended with a dim- 
inution of success. The apostles knew whereof 
they wrote when they declared, " It is not reason 
that we should leave the word of God and serve 
tables." The whole order of the Church, its 
trusteeship, stewardship, and general officiary, 
* Rev. J. D. Barbee. 



184 In Power — The Ministry. 

is based upon a recognition of the principle that 
the ministry is for the preaching of the word, 
and for that only, whether in the form of public 
discourse, or of personal appeal in the midst of 
pastoral service. 

Direct personal appeal is the one successful 
method of soul- winning to-day. The time is past 
when general exhortation alone v/ill suffice to 
turn sinners to righteousness. The great evan- 
gelists organize their forces for personal work. 
The great pastors make personal work the burden 
of their ministry. Rev. Dr. J. O. Peck, of New 
Haven, who, at the end of twenty-five years 
as a regular pastor, had been instrumental in 
leading over four thousand souls to Christ, early 
learned the secret of highest ministerial useful- 
ness, namely, "personal private labor with individ- 
uals." Private persuasion of individuals is the 
secret of any success in winning men to God. In 
the sweeping revivals of these latter days, hun- 
dreds are converted at home, or in little inquiry 
circles, before they come to the public meetings. 
Pastors must know their sheep, and if they would 
get any valuable accessions to their flocks, they 
must go out and seek them individually from 
among the lost. They must make this work the 
one business of their lives. They " have nothing 



Portrait of a Pastor. 185 

to do but to save souls.'' For this they are con- 
secrated and ordained. Failure here cannot be 
compensated for by success elsewhere. Through 
sweeping revival, or steady spiritual growth, 
every pastor should cease not to labor night 
and day with tears until salvation conies to his 
people. Sweet in eternal worlds will be the rest 
of such a worker. Rev Charles D. Bell, D.D., 
once drew the following full-length portrait of a 
faithful pastor. It portrays his spirit rather than 
his success, but the success of such a man can 
hardly be portrayed: 

A man he was who, from his earliest youth, 
Had sought and found the hidden heart of truth, 
Whose law found just expression in his mouth. 

His was a noble mind, pure, docile, calm, 
His lips for wounded souls kept healing balm, 
Prayers for the sad, for happy ones a psalm. 

His gaze was on the unattained, the far. 
Which shone before him like the Polar star ; 
For things unseen, he scorned the things that are. 

His face caught beauty from the soul within, 
His ear was deaf to earthly strife and din, 
His mind to that of angels was akin. 

He ever linked high thoughts to loving words, 
Which stirred to music all the spirit's chords, 
As stir the leaves the songs of forest birds. 



186 In Power — The MmisTRY. 

The beautiful had in his heart a share — 

The flowers, the birds, all things of earth and air — , 

He looked abroad and found God's creatures fair. 

Life was to him no idle, empty dream, 

No withered leaf caught by the whirling stream, 

And borne where'er the current might beseem. 

He filled each passing hour with earnest deeds, 
In action lived while he professed in creeds, 
And of high aspirations sowed the seeds. 

His voice was raised for suffering souls and poor, 
And he could pity where he could not cure ; 
When -wronged himself, he knew how to endure. 

His heart was as a sacred altar-fire, 

On which burned faith and hope and pure desire, 

But which of meaner passions was the fjyre. 

Although no halo gleamed around his head. 
Yet o'er his life a saintliness was shed. 
All saw to worldly pleasure he was dead. 

So, as the narrow path he daily trod, 

And walked the world, unspotted, with his God, 

With sweetest praise and prayer he cheered the road. 

All that he lost for Christ he counted gain, 
And living not for earth, lived not in vain. 
But sowed for future harvests the rich grain. 

Wise as the serpent, harmless as the dove. 
He dwelt on earth, but lived in heav'n above, 
Child like and simple, full of faith and love. 

Rev. Thomas Binney, of England, about forty 
years ago, preached a wonderful sermon to minis- 



Importance of Prayer. 187 

ters from the text: "The pastors have become 
brutish, and have not sought the Lord, therefore 
they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall 
be scattered." Jer. x, 21. The point Mr. Binney 
made was the importance of private prayer to 
those who sustain the sacred function; it was es-^ 
sential to ministerial success. If there is a hard 
and pitiable case in this Avorld it is that of a spir- 
itual guide in whom personal religion has de- 
clined, from whom religious success has departed, 
and nothing remains but professional propriety 
and functional formality. How surely in such a 
case does the flock scatter and decay by estrange- 
ment and division, the truly devout drawing off, 
and those remaining in the fold proving any 
thing but sheep. Surely such instances in these 
days are not attributable to any informality in 
inducting pastors to the sacred office, to any 
want in them of intellectual ability, nor, as a 
rule, to any heresy or immorality. The one de- 
fect which poisons every thing is that such pas- 
tors are not men of earnest, frequent private 
devotion. This is the hidden evil among us 
which is retarding our grov/th, giving Satan ad- 
vantage over us, and bringing the Church of 
God into disrepute. 

A minister once said to a man who was break- 



188 In Power — The Ministry, 

ing stone on a turnpike, "I wish I could break 
the liearts of sinners like you break those stones." 
"You might," said the man, "if you were as 
much on your knees as I am." 

The spiritual life must be nourished and sus- 
tained in a minister the same as in other men — 
he cannot live on his own official acts. The cus- 
tomary work of preachers, especially the numer- 
ous social engagements, are not promotive of 
ministerial piety. Our Lord, perhaps, had such 
drawbacks in view when he said to his disciples, 
on their return from a successful official tour, 
" Come ye apart into a desert place and rest 
awhile." How often did he himself repair to the 
mountain top or lonely retreat to pour out his 
heart in the fervor of prayer and devotion. His 
example in this regard has ever been too little 
followed by his under-shepherds. 

The personal religious condition of a pastor 
necessarily modifies every thing he does. The 
perception of divine truth, and therefore the 
power to exhibit it with clearness and vividness, 
depend, by a law of nature, upon the culture and 
preservation of a state of mind in harmony with 
truth itself. Cold and superficial, indeed, will be 
the pulpit and altar efforts of that pastor whose 
fellowship is with the world more than with the 



Success is of the Master. 189 

Father, whose communion is with himself and his 
fellow-men on secular themes more than with 
God in the wrestlings of secret prevailing prayer. 
The great ministers who have moved mankind 
heavenward and Godward have been men of 
habitual devotion. 

We believe and teach that prayer, in addition 
to its reflex influence on the mind, is a direct 
means of obtaining divine help. If it is not, 
then, we are left without any way of securing 
divine guidance, and all the promises of Scripture 
are utterly without meaning. Our help cometh 
from the holy hill. Success is of the Master, not 
of the servant. If a minister have not God's aid 
in God's work he is left in a condition of appall- 
ing abandonment, acting and laboring alone in a 
vocation recognized by all mankind as the most 
solemn and responsible known to the earthly life. 
Think of a poor, solitary, unaided man trying to 
do a divine thing in a state of sinful and melan- 
choly independence. No human being can in- 
volve himself in a sadder plight than to assume 
the functions of the Christian ministry, and live 
an indifferent, prayer! ess life. He stands between 
God and the people, not to convey but to ob- 
struct divine influence, and hinder the progress 
of religious impression. If there is one woe 



190 In PoivER— The Ministry. 

deeper than another in the future world, he may 
expect to reap it who thus weighs his own selfish 
interests in the balance against immortal souls. 

Perhaps the following striking remarks from 
the pen of Dr. Philip, in his good old " Life and 
Times of Whiteneld," will be as new, forcible, 
and inspiring as any thing that can be said. 
Certainly there is no reason why ministers at the 
present day may not preach in " the demonstra- 
tion of the Spirit and of power," as well as in 
ancient times. We are yet under the dispensa- 
tion of the Spirit, and the condition of the 
Spirit's presence and help is the same as of old. 
Whose soul has not been pained and whose heart 
has not been sick in listening to the dull monot- 
ony — soulless and lifeless — of some who minister 
in the name of Christ. 

What idea can those dear brethren have of 
the nature of the high commission which they 
bear, whose pulpit performances consist, to a 
great extent, of labored essays, learned, perhaps, 
and elegantly written, but savoring little of the 
apostle's theme, " Jesus Christ and him crucified," 
and delivered m a manner which indicates any 
thing else than a soul inspired and burning with 
the message of love ? But to the extracts. 

"It is high time that the Church of Christ 



Demonstration of the Spirit. 191 

should consider, not only the duty of depending 
on the Spirit, but also the import and importance 
of the ^ demonstration of the Spirit,' in preaching. 
That is more than the demonstration of ortho- 
doxy. It is more than the demonstration of 
either sound scholarship or hard study. It is 
even more than the demonstration of mere sin- 
cerity and fidelity. Sincerity may be cold and 
fidelity harsh. Even zeal may be party rivalship 
or personal vanity, while it seems holy fire, search- 
ing only for incense for the glory of God and the 
Lamb. To preach in the demonstration of the 
Spirit ' is even more than bringing out the ^ mind 
of the Spirit' faithfully and fully. The real 
meaning of his oracles may be honestly given, 
and yet their true spirit neither caught nor con- 
veyed. ' What the Spirit saith unto the church- 
es ' may be repeated to the churches without 
evasion or faltering; but it will not be heard as 
his counsel or consolation unless it is spoken 
with something of his own love and solemnity. 
He is the Spirit of power, and of grace, and of 
love, as well as the Spirit of truth, and of wis- 
dom, and, therefore, he is but half copied in 
preaching if only his meaning is given. That 
meaning lies in his mind, not merely as truth, nor 
as law, nor as wisdom, but also as sympathy, 



192 In Poweb— The Mixistey. 

solicitude, and love for the souls it is addressed 
unto. The words of the Spirit are spirit and life, 
and therefore the soul, as well as the substance of 
their meaning, is essential to faithful preaching. 
They can hardly be said to be the words of the 
Holy Ghost when they are uttered in a spiritless 
and lifeless mood. 

"This will be more obvious by looking at the 
^ truth as it is in Jesus.' In him it is grace as well 
as truth. All his heart and soul and strength 
breathe and burn in his words. His motives are 
a part of his meaning. He explains the great 
salvation that he may endear and enforce its 
claims at the same time. He makes us feel that 
he feels more for our souls than words can ex- 
press. He compels us to see a beaming in his 
eye, and to hear a beating of intense solicitude 
in his heart, and to recognize a fixedness of pur- 
pose in all his manner, unspeakably beyond all he 
says. The real pleading of the Saviour with sin- 
ners begins where his words end. His weeping 
silence, after speaking ^ as never man spake,' tells 
more of his love to souls than all his gracious 
words. We feel that he feels that he has gained 
nothing by his preaching unless he has won souls. 
He leaves upon every mind the conviction that 
nothing can please him but the heart, and that 



Ministry in Chrisfs Stead. 193 

nothing would please him so much as giving him 
the heart. No man ever rose or can rise from 
reading the entreaties of Christ without feeling 
that Christ is in earnest, is intent, is absorbed, to 
geek and save the lost. 

'' The apostles evidently marked this with great 
attention, and copied it with much success when 
they became ^embassadors for Christ' by the 
ministry of reconciliation. Then they did more 
than deliver the truth he taught. They tried to 
utter it with his solemnity, tenderness, and unc- 
tion. They tried to put themselves in ^ Christ's 
stead ' when Christ was no longer on earth to 
beseech men to become reconciled to God. This 
was the 'demonstration of the Spirit.' Saying 
what Christ did was not enough for them; they 
labored to say it as he did, or in the spirit and 
for the purpose he had preached the Gospel. 
Thus the truth was in them as it was *in Jesus;' 
not merely as true, but also as impressive, per- 
suasive, absorbing. They spoke the truth as he 
had done, ' in the love of it,' and with love to the 
souls it was able to make wise unto salvation. 

''And this is not impossible even now, although 

apostolic inspiration be at an end. The best part 

of the Spirit's influences — love to the Gospel and 

immortal souls — is yet attainable, and as easily 
13 



194 In Power — The Ministry. 

attained as any other ministerial qualification. A 
minister Should be as much ashamed and more 
afraid of being unbaptized with the Holy Ghost 
and fire, as of being ignorant of the original 
language of the Holy Scriptures. Men who can 
demonstrate the problems of Euclid, or the im- 
port of Greek or Hebrevv idioms, have no excuse 
if they are unable to preach with the ' demonstra- 
tion of the Spirit and of power.' The same atten- 
tion to the latter demonstration v/hich they gave 
to the former would fill them with the Holy 
Ghost, and fire them with holy zeal. 

*^ The minister must be a holy temple unto the 
Holy Ghost who would have the Spirit speak to 
the hearts of man by him. Never does a preach- 
er dupe himself or endanger others more than 
when he imagines that the Spirit will give power 
to the Gospel among his people, while it has not 
power upon himself. God makes ministers a 
blessing to others by blessing themselves first. 
He works in them in order to work by them." 

O for such consecrated and powerful men of 
God ! The sin-cursed and dying world needs 
them. The too-listless and inactive Church re- 
quires them. We believe they will be raised up. 
The tide will turn. The Almighty will not for- 
sake his people. He will plead his cause. Truth 



Spirituality Shall Prevail 195 

will triumph. Througli human agency, in the 
pulpit and pew, and in the busy, bustling world, 
the power of the Highest will ere long be dis- 
played in turning thoughtless and reckless hu- 
manity from the power of Satan unto God. 
Then shall spirituality prevail; then shall the 
beauty of holiness appear ; then shall men see 
that on true piety the noblest humanity is built; 
then shall the world know that 

" Religion pure, 
Unchanged in spirit, though its forms and codes 

Wear myriad modes. 
Contains all creeds within its mighty span. 
The love of God displayed in love of man." 



196 Spiritual Maxims. 



XI. 

SPIRITUAL MAXIMS. 

Stirring Spiritual Maxims Chosen from the Writings 
OP Bishop Joseph Hall, Thomas a Kempis, Thomas Adam, 
Fenelon, Madame Guyon, Hannah More, Dyer, Pere la 
Combe, Matthew Henry, Richard Baxter, Jean Pierre 
Camus, Francis de Sales, and others. 

" In God's own might 
We gird us for the coming fight, 
And, strong in him whose cause is ours 
In conflict with unholy powers, 
We grasp the weapons he has given, — 
The L/ght and Truth and Love of Heaven." 

— J. G. Whittier. 

" Thy life's a warfare, thou a soldier art, 
Satan's thy foeman, and a faithful heart 
Thy two-edged weapon, patience thy shield, 
Heaven is thy chieftain, and the world thy field." 

— QUARLES. 

*' ' Life is before ye ! ' from the fated road 
Ye cannot turn ; then take ye up the load ; 
Not yours to tread or leave the unknown way, 
Ye must go o'er it, meet ye what ye may. 
Gird up your souls within you to the deed, 
Angels and fellow-spirits bid ye speed." 

— Mrs. Butler. 



Salvation and Good Worhs. 197 

" Think not of rest ; though dreams be sweet, 

Start up, and ply your heavenward feet. 

Is not God's oath upon your head, 

Ne'er to sink back on slothful bed ; 

Never again your loins untie, 

Nor let your torches waste and die, 

Till, when the shadows thickest fall, 

Ye hear your Master's midnight call ? " — Keble. 

If we pronounce condemnation upon ourselves, 
Christ is able to save; but if we excuse ourselves 
and impenitently await the condemnation of 
Christ, we are forever undone. 

Never go to war in another man's armor. Da- 
vid was wiser than this. Saul put upon him a 
coat of mail, but he would not meet Goliath in it 
because he was untrained. Choosing a smooth 
stone from a brook, he put it in his oft-tried 
sling, and with it smote his giant foe to the 
death. Every man in his own order. 

The cross of Christ produces two seemingly 
different effects in a believer: it makes him sen- 
sible of his own vileness, yet prompts him to 
work for the good of others. 

Good works follow salvation just as naturally 
as saving faith precedes it. For this reason Paul 
felt perfectly safe in uttering the challenge, 
" Show me thy faith without thy works, and I 
will show thee my faith by my works." Faith 



198 Spiritual Maxims. 

is the blossom which brings forth the fruit of 
obedience. 

The day is lost in which we gain no step to- 
ward heaven, and worse than wasted in which we 
lose ground. 

Christ's free man, heaven-taught and Spirit-led, 
aims at perfection in the love of God, and grieves 
only for the want of it. 

Most men depend upon to-morrow for happi- 
ness and achievement, yet they never overtake it; 
they ignore to-day which is ever present, until 
life becomes an eternal yesterday. Work while 
the day lasts. 

Death does not change character, it only fixes 
it. Bring, then, to the hour of death such a 
character as you can be happy with to all 
eternity. 

Sin known and pardoned is heaven on earth, 
and is the song of praise in glory; sin known and 
unpardoned is the source of misery here, and will 
be a burning torment hereafter. 

From Bishop Joseph Hall. 

When we go about any enterprise of God it is 
good to see that our hearts be clear from any 
pollution of sin, and when we are thwarted in 
our hopes it is our best course to ransack our- 



From Joseph Hall. 199 

selves, and to search for some sin, hid from us in 
our bosom, but open to the view of God. 

There can be no mercy in injustice, and noth- 
ing but injustice in not fulfilling the charge of 
God. The death of malefactors, the condemna- 
tion of wicked men, seem harsh to us; but we 
must learn of God, that there is a punishing 
mercy. Cursed be that mercy that opposes the 
mercy of God. Let our own sins first fall. 

With us there is no way to victory but fight- 
ing, and the strongest carries the spoil; God can 
give victory to the feet as well as to the hands; 
and when he will, makes weakness no disadvan- 
tage. What should we do but follow God through 
by-ways, and know that he will, in spite of nat- 
ure, if we trust in his grace, lead us to our end. 

It is not so much glory to God to take away 
wicked men a« to overrule their evil to his own 
holy purposes. How soon could the Supreme 
Ruler of heaven and earth rid the world of bad 
members ! 

The great Commander of the world hath set 
every man in his station; to one he hath said, 
Stand thou in this tower and watch; to another, 
Make thou good these trenches; to a third. Dig 
thou in this mine. He that gives and knows our 
abilities can best set us to work. 



200 Spiritual Maxims. 

Evil is uniform, and beginning at the senses 
takes the inmost fort of the soul, and then arms 
our own outward forces against us. 

As Satan, so wicked men cannot abide to lose 
any of their community. If a convert comes 
home the angels welcome him with songs, the 
devils follow him with uproar and fury, his old 
partners with scorns and obloquy. 

Who can complain either of solitariness or op- 
position that hath God with him; with him not 
only as a witness, but as a party ? Even wicked 
men and devils cannot exclude God, not the bars 
of hell can shut him out. He is with them by 
force, but to judge and punish them; yea, God 
will be ever with them to their cost; but to pro- 
tect, comfort, save, he is with none but his. 

The only way to find comfort in an earthly 
thing is to surrender it into the hands of God. 

Wickedness hath but a time; the punishment 
of wickedness is beyond all time. 

No good man would be saved alone. 

No good heart ever repents having done well. 

Small and unlikely means prevail when God 
intends an effect. 

It is holy and safe to be jealous of the first oc- 
casions of evil, either done or suffered. 

The heart that is bent upon God knows how to 



From Joseph Hall 201 

walk steadily and indifferently between the pleas- 
ures of sin and fears of evil. 

The guilty conscience can never think itself 
safe. 

It is the duty of men, much more of Christians, 
to advise against sin. 

A small authority will serve for a loving ad- 
monition. 

We love not the Church if we easily leave it. 

God never graces the idle with his visions. 
When he finds us in our callings, we find him in 
the tokens of his mercy. 

Frequency of meeting with God gives us free- 
dom of access, and makes us pour out our hearts 
to him as fully and as fearlessly as to our 
friends. 

God loves to over-deserve of men, and to ex- 
ceed, not only their sins, but their very desires, 
in mercy. O what goodness is that he hath laid 
up for them that love him ! 

O Lord, thy hand is not shortened to give; let 
not ours be shortened or shut in receiving. 

God will be waited on, and will answer quickly, 
but the consummation of his blessings he will give 
at his leisure. 

God loves we should take pains for our spirit- 
ual food. 



202 Spikitual Maxims. 

God delights to have us live in a continual de- 
pendence upon his providence, and each day re- 
new the acts of our faith and thankfulness. 

We shall find difficulties in all good enter- 
prises ; if we be sure we have begun them from 
God we may securely cast all events upon his 
providence, which knows how to dispose, and 
how to end them. 

No Christian may think it enough to pray 
alone. He is no true Israelite who is not ready 
to lift up the weary hands of God's saints. 

God hath said and done enough for us to make 
lis trust him. 

The God of mercy will not impute the slips of 
our infirmity to the prejudice of our faithfulness. 

It is not possible a man should have any long 
conference with God, and be no whit affected. 

We are strangers from God; it is no wonder if 
our faces be earthly ; but he that sets himself 
apart to God shall find a kind of majesty, and 
respect put upon him in the minds of others. 

Christian modesty teaches a wise man not to 
expose himself to the fairest show, and to live at 
the utmost pitch of his strength. 

Moses put a veil upon his face, but when he 
went to speak with God he pulled it off. Hypo- 
crites are contrary to Moses; he showed his worst 



From Joseph Hall 203 

to men, his best to God ; they show their best to 
men, their worst to God. 

God, as he is himself eternal, so he loves per- 
manency and constancy of grace in us: if we are 
but a flash and away, God regards us not. 

God expects of us an improvement of the 
graces we have received. 

It is presumption and sacrilege to bring pro- 
fane coals to God's altar. We do this when we 
bring zeal without knowledge, misconceits of 
faith, carnal affections, the devices of our will- 
worship, and superstitious devotions. These 
flames were never of his kindling ; he hates both 
altar, fire, priest, and sacrifice. 

True faith is courageous, and makes nothing 
of those dangers wherewith others are quelled. 
There is none so valiant as the believer. 

If God bear us in his arms when we are chil- 
dren, yet when we are well grown, he looks we 
should go on our own feet ; it is enough that he 
upholds us, though he carry us not. 

To hear of the loving-kindness of God is pleas- 
ant, but to behold and feel the evidences of his 
mercy is unspeakably delectable. 

The main care of a good heart is still for the 
public, neither can it enjoy itself while the Church 
of God is distressed. As faith draws home gen- 



204 Spieitual Maxims. 

eralities, so charity diffuses generalities from it- 
self to all. 

The way to obtain any benefit is to devote it, 
in our hearts, to the glory of that God of whom 
we ask it: by this means shall God both please 
his servant and honor himself; whereas, if the 
scope of our desires be carnal, we may be sure 
either to fail of our suit, or of a blessing. 

Fkom Thomas a Kempis. 

Let us endeavor to conquer ourselves, to daily 
wax stronger, and to grow in holiness. 

If we would endeavor like brave men to stand 
in the battle, surely we should feel the assistance 
of God from heaven. 

For he who giveth us occasion to fight, to the 
end we may get the victory, is ready to succor 
those that fight, and that trust in his grace. 

If thou dost not overcome small and easy 
things, when wilt thou overcome harder things. 

There is no order so holy nor place so secret 
as that there be not temptations or adversities 
in it. 

Gird up thy loins like a man against the vile 
assaults of the devil; bridle thy riotous appetite^ 
and thou shalt be the better able to keep under 
all the unruly motions of the flesh. 



Ft'om Thomas d ITen^ns, 205 

O how sweet and pleasant a thing it is to see 
brethren fervent and devout, well-mannered, and 
well-disciplined. 

He that knoweth best how to suffer will best 
keep himself in peace; that man is conqueror of 
himself and lord of the world, the friend of 
Christ, and an heir of heaven. 

A man must strive long and mightily within 
himself before he can learn fully to master him- 
self, and to draw his whole heart unto God. 

The devil sleepeth not, neither is the flesh as 
yet dead ; therefore cease not to prepare thyself 
to the battle ; for on thy right hand and on thy 
left are enemies who never rest. 

Why f earest thou to take up the cross which 
leadeth thee to a kingdom ? 

In the cross is salvation, in the cross is life, in 
the cross is protection against our enemies, in the 
cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness, in the 
cross is strength of mind, in the cross joy of 
spirit, in the cross the height of virtue, in the 
cross the perfection of sanctity. 

There is no salvation of the soul nor hope of 
everlasting life but in the cross. 

Take up therefore thy cross and follow Jesus, 
and thou shalt go into life everlasting. He went 
before, bearing his cross, and died for thee on the 



206 Spiritual Maxims. 

cross; that thou mightest also bear thy cross, and 
be a partaker with him in glory. 

Go where thou wilt, seek whatsoever thou 
wilt, thou shalt not find a higher way above 
nor a safer way below than the way of the holy 
cross. 

The cross is always ready, and every-where 
waits for thee. 

The more thou knowest, and the better thou 
understandest, the more strictly shalt thou be 
judged. 

There is no peace in the heart of a carnal man, 
nor in him that is given to outward things, but 
in the spiritual and devout man. 

Esteem not thyself for the height of thy stat- 
ure, nor for the beauty of thy person, which may 
be disfigured and destroyed by a little sickness. 

I have often heard that it is safer to hear and 
take counsel than to give it. 

If we esteem our progress in religious life to 
consist only in some outward observances, our 
devotion will quickly be at an end. 

The beginning of all evil 4;emptations is incon- 
stancy of mind and small confidence in God. 

He that hath true and perfect charity seeketh 
himself in nothing, but only desireth in all things 
that the glory of God should be exalted. 



From Tliomas d Kempis, 207 

Those things that a man cannot amend in him- 
self or in others he ought to suffer patiently until 
God order them otherwise. 

The life of a good, religious person ought to 
excel in all virtues, that he may inwardly be such 
as outwardly he seemeth to men. 

Never be entirely idle ; but either be reading, 
or writing, or praying, or meditating, or endeav- 
oring something for the public good. 

What canst thou see anywhere that can long 
continue under the sun ? 

Thou thinkest, perchance, to satisfy thyself, 
but thou canst never attain it. 

Couldst thou see all things present before thine 
eyes, what were it but a vain sight ? 

Lift up thine eyes to God in the highest, and 
pray him to pardon thy sins and negligences. 

Leave vain things to the vain, but be thou in- 
tent upon those things which God hath com- 
manded thee. 

Shut thy door upon thee, and call unto Jesus, 
thy beloved. 

Stay with him in thy closet, for thou shalt not 
find so great peace anywhere else. 

O my brother, cast not away thy confidence of 
making progress in godliness; there is yet time, 
the hour is not yet past. 



208 Spiritual Maxims. 

Who shall remember thee when thou art dead ? 
and who shall pray for thee? 

Now, whilst thou hast time, keep unto thyself 
everlasting riches. 

Think on nothing but the salvation of thy soul, 
care for nothing but the things of God. 

Suppose that thou hadst up to this day lived 
always in honors and delights, what would it all 
avail thee if thou were doomed to die this 
instant ? 

When thou hast Christ thou art rich, and hast 
enough. He will be thy faithful and provident 
helper in all things, so that thou shalt not need to 
trust in men. 

For men soon change, and quickly fail, but 
Christ remaineth forever, and standeth by us 
firmly unto the end. 

A lover of Jesus and of the truth, and a true in- 
ward Christian, and one free from inordinate af- 
fections, can freely turn himself unto God, and 
lift himself above himself in spirit, and rest in 
full enjoyment. 

By two wings a man is lifted up from things 
earthly, namely, by simplicity and purity. 

Simplicity ought to be in our intention, purity 
in our affections. Simplicity doth tend toward 
God ; purity doth apprehend and taste him. 



From Thomas d Kempis, 209 

If there be joy in the world, surely a man of a 
pure heart possesseth it. 

And if there be anywhere tribulation and af- 
fliction, an evil conscience best knoweth it. 

Blessed is the soul which heareth the Lord 
speaking within her, and receiveth from his 
mouth the word of consolation. 

Blessed are the ears that gladly receive the, 
pulses of the divine whisper, and give no heed 
to the many whisperings of this world. 

Blessed are the eyes which are shut to outward 
things, but intent on things within. 

Blessed are they that enter far into inward 
things, and endeavor to prepare themselves, more 
and more, by daily exercises, for the receiving of 
heavenly secrets. 

Blessed are they who are glad to have time to 
spare for God, and who shake off all worldly 
hinderances. 

Teach me, O Lord, to do thy will ; teach me to 
live worthily and humbly in thy sight ; for thou 
art my wisdom, thou dost truly know me, and 
didst know me before the world was made, and 
before I was born into the world. Let thy truth 
teach me, guard me, and preserve me safe to the 
end. 
14 



210 Spiritual Maxims. 

From Thomas Adam. 

Christ says, *^Take up the cross;" and very- 
evident it is that some of his commands, literally 
taken, have the cross in them. Take this out, 
and then wherein does he differ from other legis- 
lators? or what remains but a bare religion of 
nature ? which, we may be sure, will never bear 
too hard upon flesh and blood. 

Christ in me will be the same God-devoted, 
sin-hating, soul-loving, self-denying, suffering, la- 
boring Christ that he is in himself. 

Faith gives me Christ, and love from faith 
gives me to my neighbor. 

Lord, have mercy upon me, and help me; I am 
surrounded with enemies which I cannot resist 
but in thy strength, and must fall a prey to them 
without thy assistance. Suffer not thy name to 
be dishonored in the destruction of thy poor 
creature, and the triumphs of tlie powers of dark- 
ness over thy promise for my salvation. Let the 
confession of my weakness, and of my depend- 
ence upon thee, prevail with thee in Christ to 
stand up in my defense; and do thou get the 
victory, and be glorified in thyself, and in thy 
own goodness. Amen I 

The will of God is my pole-star, and, with my 



From Thomas Adam, 211 

eye constantly upon it, I shall be carried safely 
through all storms and tempests. 

If God gives internal comfort, it is not that we 
may live upon it, but to support and animate us 
to some further end. 

To-day's duty is no discharge for to-morrow: 
every day has its own peremptory demand upon 
us, not only for repetition, but advancement. It 
is a saying of St. Basil, that the soul would 
starve, as well as the body, without a continual 
renewal of its proper food ; and St. Paul's motto 
in the midst of such a course of labor and activi- 
ty as would quite have sunk the spirits of another 
man was, Forward ! 

God made us for eternity, and his aim in all 
he does is to bring us happily to it. Hence the 
necessity of pain, sickness, crosses, work, and war, 
to break the strong chain which binds us to the 
world, and force us to take part with God in his 
grand design. 

We have time enough to prepare for eternity, 
and should be thankful that we have none to 
spare. 

Nature says. If I may not sin, let me die; grace 
says, Let me die rather than sin. 

On earth, prayer, improvement, waiting; in 
heaven, praise, perfection, happiness. 



212 Spiritual Maxims. 

Get a step toward heaven, endeavor to master 
some evil temper, and break loose from some 
worldly tie every day. Victory over one sin 
upon right grounds will pave the way to an easy 
conquest of all. 

I never look upon a corpse without thinking 
that my soul will one day behold my own. 
What an awful moment! How happy will be 
the sight if soul and body have lived together 
for eternity ! how dreadful if they have not ! and 
what a call is there to make sure of rejoicing 
then ! 

Christ never comes into the soul unattended ; 
he brings the Holy Spirit with him, and the 
Spirit his train of gifts and graces. Lay the 
foundation in him, and leave it to him to raise 
God's building upon it. 

The mystery of the Gospel, as distinguished 
from the law, consists in changing the order of 
two words. One says, " Do and live ;" the other 
says, "Live and do." 

I cannot love my neighbor as myself till I love 
God with all my heart. I cannot love God but 
from a sense of his love to me in the forgiveness 
of my sins, and I cannot receive forgiveness from 
him as a benefit till I know my want of it. 

If I was to live to the world's end, and do all 



Fi*om Thomas Adam. 213 

the good that man can do, I must still cry, " Mer- 
cy ! " Why, then, should I be unwilling or afraid 
to die this moment, with a sense of God's pardon- 
ing love, when I can have no other claims to sal- 
vation if I was to live forever ? 

One would think it tolerably modest to say 
that God knows the way to heaven better than 
we do, and that it is lawful for him to prescribe 
to us the terms of our admission into it; and yet 
there is no proposition more generally ridiculed. 

God pardons in order to cleanse. Whoever 
expects forgiveness without any thought or de- 
sire of being cleansed, cannot receive it. It is 
impossible for God to forgive an unrepenting 
sinner ; and he does not repent who does not 
purpose and wish to be changed. 

If I have faith in Christ, I shall love him ; if I 
love him, I shall keep his commandments ; if I do 
not keep his commandments, I do not love him; 
if I do not love him, I do not believe in him. 

Repent, and believe ; believe, and love ; love, 
and obey; obey in love, and be as happy as you 
can be in this world. 

The spirit in the children of God is like an or- 
gan; one man is one stop; another, another; the 
sound is different, the instrument the same, but 
music in all. 



214 Spiritual Maxims. 

Feom Feneloit. 

We must never be astonished at temptations, 
be they never so outrageous. On this earth all 
is temptation. Crosses tempt us by irritating 
our pride, arid prosperity by flattering it. Our 
life is a continual combat, but one in which Jesus 
Christ fights for us. We must pass on unmoved 
while temptations rage around us, as the traveler, 
overtaken by a storm, simply wraps his cloak more 
closely about him, and pushes on more vigorous- 
ly toward his destined home. 

Be never troubled at the loss of the sensible 
presence of God ; but, above all, beware of seek- 
ing to retain him by a multitude of argumenta- 
tive and reflective acts. Be satisfied during the 
day, and while about the details of your daily 
duties, with a general and interior view of God, 
so that if asked at any moment whither your 
heart is tending, you may answer with truth that 
it is toward God, though the attention of your 
mind may then be engrossed by something else. 
Be not troubled by the wanderings of your imag- 
ination which you cannot restrain; how often do 
we wander through the fear of wandering, and 
the regret that we have done so ! What would 
you say of a traveler who, instead of constantly 



From Fenelon. 215 

advancing in his journey, should employ his time 
in anticipating the falls which he might suffer, or 
in weeping over the place where one had hap- 
pened ? On, on, you would say to him; on, with- 
out looking behind or stopping. 

"We must proceed, as the apostle bids us, that 
we may abound more and more. The abundance 
of the love of God will be of more service in 
correcting us than all our restlessness and self- 
ish reflections. 

Feom Madam GuYo:Nr. 

There is time for every thing in our lives; but 
the maxim that governs every moment is, that 
there should be none useless ; that they should 
all enter into the order and sequence of salva- 
tion ; that they are all accompanied by duties 
which God has allotted with his own hand, and 
of which he will demand an account; for from 
the first instance of our existence to the last, he 
has never assigned us a barren moment, nor one 
which ^ve can consider as given up to our own 
discretion. The great thing is to recognize his 
will in relation to them. 

When the soul is once turned toward God, it 
finds a wonderful facility in continuing steadfast 
in conversion; and the longer it remains thus 



216 Spiritual Maxims. 

converted, the nearer it approaches and the more 
firmly it adheres to God; and the nearer it draws 
to him, it is of necessity the further removed 
from the creature, which is so contrary to him ; 
so that it is so effectually established in conver- 
sion that the state becomes habitual and, as it 
were, natural. 

From Hanistah More. 

The intellectual vices, the spiritual offenses, 
may destroy the soul without much injuring the 
credit. These have not, like voluptuousness, their 
seasons of alternation and repose. Here the prin- 
ciple is in continual operation. Envy has no in- 
terval ; ambition never cools ; pride never sleeps. 
The principle, at least, is always awake. An in- 
temperate man is sometimes sober, but a proud 
man is never humble. Where vanity reigns, she 
reigns always. These interior sins are more dif- 
ficult of extirpation, they are less easy of detec- 
tion, more hard to come at, and as the citadel 
sometimes holds out after the outworks are taken, 
these sins of the heart are the latest conquered in 
the moral welfare. 

Say not that the requisitions of religion are 
severe; ask, rather, if they are necessary. If a 
thing must absolutely be done, if eternal misery 



M'om Hannah More, 217 

will be incurred by not doing it, it is fruitless to 
inquire whether it be hard or easy. Inquire only 
whether it be indispensable, whether it be com- 
manded, whether it be practicable. It is a well- 
known axiom in science that difficulties are of 
no weight against demonstrations. The duty on 
which our eternal state depends is not a thing to 
be debated, but done. The duty which is too 
imperative to be evaded, too important to be 
neglected, is not to be argued about, but per- 
formed. To sin on quietly because you do not 
intend to sin always, is to live on a reversion 
which will probably never be yours. 

The politician, the warrior, and the orator find 
it peculiarly hard to renounce in themselves that 
wisdom and strength to which they believe the 
rest of the world are looking up. The man of 
station or of genius, when invited to the self- 
denying duties of Christianity, as well as he who 
has " great possessions," goes away sorrowing. 

But to know that they must end stamps vanity 
on all the glories of life; to know that they must 
end soon stamps infatuation not only on him who 
sacrifices his conscience for their acquisition, but 
on him who, though upright in the discharge of 
his public duties, discharges them without any ref- 
erence to God. Would the conqueror or the ora- 



218 Spiritual Maxims. 

tor reflect when the laurel crown is placed on his 
brow, how soon it will be followed by the cypress 
wreath, it would lower the delirium of ambition, 
it would cool the intoxication of prosperity. 

From Dyer. 

Be upright Christians. 

Fear not the fear of men. 

Live in love, and live in truth. 

Acquaint yourselves with yourselves. 

Learn humility from Christ's humility. 

Cleave closest to that truth which is choicest. 

Improve that time which will be yours but for 
a time. 

Do good in the world with the goods of the 
world. 

Be willing to want what God is not willing to 
give. 

Take nothing upon trust, but all upon trial. 

Take those reproofs best which you need 
most. 

Crucify your sins that have crucified your 
Saviour. 

Labor more for inward purity than for outward 
felicity. 

Let it be thy art in duty to give God thy heart 
in duty. 



From Dyer. 219 

Be diligent in the means, but make not an idol 
of the means. 

Set the watch of your lives by the Sun of 
Righteousness. 

Hear the best men, read the best books, keep 
the best company. 

Set out for God at your beginning, and hold 
out until your ending. 

Meditate often on the four last things: death, 
which is most certain; judgment, which is most 
strict; hell, which is most doleful; heaven, which 
is most delightful. 

From Pere La Combe. 

Faith and the cross are inseparable: the cross 
is the shrine of faith, and faith is the light of 
the cross. 

How rare it is to behold a soul in an absolute 
abandonment of selfish interests, that it may de- 
vote itself to the interests of God ! 

In the commencement of the spiritual life our 
hardest task is to bear with our neighbor ; in its 
progress, with ourselves, and in its end, with God. 

How are we directed in the law to love our- 
selves ? In God, and with the same love that we 
bear to God ; because, as our true selves are in 
him, our love must be there also. 



220 Spiritual Maxims. 

The more the darkness of self-knowledge deep- 
ens about us the more does the divine truth shine 
in the midst. 

God gives us gifts, graces, and natural talents, 
not for our own use, but that we may render 
them to him. He takes pleasures in giving and 
in taking them away, or in so disposing of us 
that we cannot enjoy them; but their grand use 
is to be offered in a continual sacrifice to him, 
and by this he is most glorified. 

I have never found any who prayed so well as 
those who had never been taught how. They 
who have no master in man have one in the Holy 
Spirit. 

He who has a pure heart will never cease to 
pray, and he who will be constant in prayer shall 
know what it is to have a pure heart. 

The harmlessness of the dove consists in not 
judging another, the wisdom of the serpent in 
distrusting ourselves. 

From Matthew Henry. 

Religion and piety are the best securities of a 
nation. 

We cannot expect too little from man or too 
much from God. 

Piety is the best friend to prosperity. 



From Matthew Henry. 221 

Those deceive themselves who expect advan- 
tage by friendship with those who are enemies to 
God. It but exposes them to constant tempta- 
tion, and at length draws them to sin. 

Those that admire themselves despise God. 

They that drive the good Spirit away from 
them do, of course, become a prey to the evil 
one. 

When God has given us rest, we must take 
heed of slothfulness. 

Love not sleep, love not sport, love not saun- 
tering; but love business, serving the Lord with 
diligence. 

Come here and see the victories of the cross. 
Christ's wounds are thy healing, his agonies thy 
repose, his conflicts thy conquests, his groans thy 
songs, his pains thine ease, his shame thy glory, 
his death thy life, his sufierings thy salvation. 

Feom Richard Baxter. 
A heavenly mind is the nearest and truest way 
to a life of comfort. The countries far north are 
cold and frozen because they are distant from 
the sun. What makes such frozen, uncomforta- 
ble Christians, but their living so far from heav- 
en? And what makes others so warm in com- 
forts, but their living higher, and having nearer 



222 Spiritual Maxims. 

access to God? When the sun in the spring 
draws nearer to our part of the earth, how do all 
things congratulate its approach ! The earth 
looks green, the trees shoot forth, the plants re- 
vive, the birds sing, and all things smile upon us. 
If we would but try this life with God, and keep 
these hearts above, what a spring of joy would 
be within us ! How should we forget our winter 
sorrows ! How early should we rise to sing the 
praises of our Creator ! O Christians, get 
above ! 

The heavenly Christian is the lively Christian. 
It is our strangeness to heaven that makes us so 
dull. How will the soldier hazard his life, and 
the mariner pass through storms and waves, and 
no difficulty keep them back, when they think of 
an uncertain perishing treasure ! What life then 
would it put into a Christian's endeavors if he 
would frequently think of his everlasting treas- 
ure ! We run so slowly and strive so lazily be- 
cause we so little mind the prize. Set your affec- 
tions on things above. 

Very shortly thou wilt see thy glass run out, 
and say to thyself, " My life is done ! my time is 
gone ! It is past recalling ! There is nothing 
now but heaven or hell before me ! " Where, 
then, shouldst thy heart be now ? 



From Richard Baxter. 223 

You are often asking, "How shall we know 
that we are truly sanctified ? " Here you have 
an infallible sign from the mouth of Jesus Christ 
himself: " Where your treasure is, there will your 
heart be also." God is the saint's treasure and 
happiness; heaven is the place where they must 
fully enjoy him. A heart, therefore, set upon 
heaven is no more but a heart set upon God. and 
surely a heart set upon God through Christ is 
the truest evidence of saving grace. When learn- 
ing will be no proof of grace ; when knowledge, 
duties, gifts, will fail ; when arguments from thy 
tongue or hand may be confuted ; yet then will 
this, from the bent of thy heart, prove thee 
sincere. 

From Bishop Jean Pierre Camus. 
Be devoted in your calling. Religion adapts 
itself to any lawful state. Fulfill every duty 
which your vocation lays upon you rather than 
seek to cultivate graces to which you are not 
specially bound. That zeal lacks discretion 
which would introduce into common life customs 
which befit only the sick-room or the cloister. 
Let time, place, individual position, and circum- 
stances be duly weighed. Some people want 
cherries at Christmas and sleighing in August, 



224 Spiritual Maxims. 

not content to take things in their season. Such 
erratic brains are not easy to reason with. 

Love and devotion are as much akin to each 
other as flame is to fire. Love is a spiritual fire, 
and when it bursts forth into a flame, we call it 
devotion; devotion only adds to the fire of love 
that glowing flame which makes it ready, active, 
and diligent, not merely in keeping God's com- 
mandments, but in obeying his heavenly inspira- 
tions and counsels. 

I do not agree with those who think it impossi- 
ble to lead a saintly life in this present evil world. 
One who has God's grace, and strives to preserve 
a pure heart, need not fear ; there is no position 
so dangerous but may be held safely under this 
heavenly protection. We find Abraham among 
idolaters, Lot amid the grossest sinners, and Job 
in the land of Uz, always united to God, their 
purity spotless, their love and humility over- 
flowing. 

Some fish improve in flavor when they leave 
the sea and go up the sweeter inland waters; and 
so some souls do but redouble their fervent piety 
when duty calls them into scenes which naturally 
tend to foster carelessness. 

Few people accept what is, nevertheless, a 
great truth, that a faithful, upright soul is more 



From Jean Pierre Camus, 225 

closely and intimately united to God amid deso- 
lation and loneliness than in sensible devotion 
and consolation. If a soul is engrossed by the 
consolations God gives, it sometimes loses sight 
of the giver: those bees which make most wax 
are said to make the least honey. 

Blessed is the soul which continues steadfast 
amid all the dryness, desolation, and wickedness, 
which serve as the crucible wherein the pure gold 
of love is refined and purified. Blessed is he who 
bears the proving trial patiently. "After He 
hath proved me, I shall come forth as gold." The 
day will come when I shall serve and praise him. 

From Bishop Feancis de Sales. 

Most of the faults committed by good people 
arise from their not maintaining a sufficiently 
constant recollection of the presence of God. 

O what a blessed thing it is to live in God ; to 
work for God ; to rejoice in God only ! Hence- 
forth, by his grace, I will be nothing to any one, 
and none shall be aught to me, save in and for 
God only. I hope to achieve this through a fer- 
vent humiliation of my soul before him. 

Spiritual progress depends less upon doing a 
great deal than upon the spirit of fervent love 
which prompts what is done. One good work 
15 



226 Spiritual Maxims. 

fervently performed is more acceptable in God's 
sight than many done in a languid or slovenly 
way. 

How watchfully we ought to cultivate the lit- 
tle virtues which grow beneath the foot of the 
cross, inasmuch as they are watered with the 
very blood of the Son of God. Such are humili- 
ty, patience, gentleness, kindness, forbearance, 
calmness, good temper, heartiness, pity, ready 
forgiveness, simplicity, frankness, and the like. 
These virtues are like violets growing in a shady 
nook, fed by the dew of heaven, and, though 
unseen, shedding forth a sweet and precious 
odor. 

He who loves earnestly longs earnestly; he 
who longs earnestly will seek earnestly; he who 
seeks earnestly is sure to find ; and he who finds 
grace finds life and salvation in the Lord. We 
ought to ask nothing so urgently as a pure, holy 
love for our Saviour. O how we ought to long 
after this love, and love this longing ! 

The truest sign that we love God only in all 
things is when we love him equally in them all. 
He is always the same, and the inequalities of 
our love spring from our earthly attachments to 
something that is not of him. How prone we are 
to love the world. 



Prom, Francis de Sales, 227 

It is impossible to remain long stationary. He 
who does not win loses ; lie who does not rise 
Iiigher upon the ladder must go down ; he v/ho is 
not a conqueror must be conquered in this Strugs 
gle. We are surrounded by foes, and unless we 
light we must perish. But if we fight we are 
sure to succeed, and if we succeed we shall win 
a glorious victory, and receive our crown of 
triumph. 

However far advanced toward perfection, we 
need perpetual watchfulness, for tlie passions are 
prone to rekindle even in those who have for 
years followed the religious life, and made great 
progress therein. 

He who best knows how to mortify his natural 
inclinations is most open to supernatural inspira- 
tions. 

The Spirit ought to treat the body as its child, 
when obedient, and not overwhelm it; but if it 
revolts, it must be treated as a rebellious subject, 
even as St. Paul says, "I chastise my body, and 
keep it under." 

Truth which is not charitable springs from a 
charity which is not true. 

In time of spiritual depression we ought to 
work all the harder to prove our faithfulness. 
One act done amid dryness of spirit is worth 



228 Spiritual Maxims. 

many performed with delight— the love which 
prompts it is deeper, though less agreeable to 
one's self. 

Do not sow a crop of good intentions in an- 
other man's garden, but cultivate your own dili- 
gently. Do not wish to be any thing save what 
you are, but strive to be that perfectly. Fix all 
your thoughts on that, and on bearing every 
cross, great and small, which it involves. Be- 
lieve me, this is the real secret, though so little 
appreciated, of spiritual direction. 

Be at peace, and let your soul feed u]3on the 
sweetness of heavenly love, without which our 
hearts were lifeless, our life joyless. Give no 
place to sadness, the great enemy of devotion. 
What should sadden one who serves our ever- 
lasting Joy? Nothing save sin ought to vex or 
grieve us ; and even when sorry for sin, holy joy 
and hope should come to the rescue. When Da- 
vid had poured out all his sorrows, he yet ex- 
claimed, "In God's word will I rejoice; in the 
Lord's word I will comfort me." 

From Others. 
A religion that never suffices to govern a man 
will never suffice to save him ; that which does 
not sufficiently distinguish one from a wicked 



From Howe and Others. 2^9 

world will never distinguish him from a perish- 
ing world. — Howe. 

The aggregate amount of Christian duties may 
be reduced to three things : faith, obedience, and 
patience; the vital principle which animates them 
all, submission. Faith is submission to the ora- 
cles of God; obedience is submission to the com- 
manding will of God; patience is submission to 
the chastisement of God. — South. 

Tou must hold intercourse with God, or your 
soul will die ; you must walk with God, or Satan 
will walk with you ; you must grow in grace, or 
you will lose it ; and you cannot do this but by 
appropriating to this object a portion of your 
time, and diligently employing suitable means. — 
Cecil. 

Carry religion into common life is Caird's sen- 
sible suggestion. Make perishable things the 
seed of immortality. No work done for Christ 
decays. No action that helps to mold the death- 
less mind of a saint of God is ever lost. Live for 
Christ in the world, and you carry out with you 
into eternity all of the results of the world's busi- 
ness that are worth the keeping. 

A soul that is humble, says Durant, will be 
content to tarry days, weeks, or years for the 
Lord. If God will not raise him up now he will 



280 Spiritual Maxims, 

wait in hope that he may hereafter. Surely it is 
but reason we should wait with patience till God 
raise us out of the pits of sadness and dejection, 
since he waited so long for our rising out of the 
pits of sinfulness and defilement. 

When you lie down at night compose your 
spirits as if you were not to awake till the heav- 
ens be no more. And when you awake in the 
morning; consider that new day as your last, and 
live accordingly. Surely that night cometh of 
which you will never see the morning, or that 
morning of which you will never see the night ; 
but which of your mornings or nights will be 
such, you know not. 



THE END. 



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